Is Feminism Changing?

Why Women Still Can't Have It All
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/

Anne-Marie Slaughter takes an interesting approach to feminism in her article “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All.” As a successful business woman, she argues that the feminist struggle may not be as appealing as it was previously made out to be. It is her belief that not all women have the ability to have a highly competitive career, whilst still maintaining a stable family life.

1. Contrast: The author uses wonderful contrast in this article right in the opening lines, to paint a picture for the reader.

“Eighteen months into my job as the first woman director of policy planning at the State Department, a foreign-policy dream job that traces its origins back to George Kennan, I found myself in New York, at the United Nations’ annual assemblage of every foreign minister and head of state in the world.”

To me, this really helps me to envision exactly where the author was in that moment. I believe the intended effect of this was to put the reader in the author’s place, so they could understand exactly how she felt in that moment.

2. Description: The author uses description here to show how poorly her family was getting along without her. I think she uses this to emphasize her point that her family needed her, and she wasn’t there for them because of her job.

“I sipped champagne, greeted foreign dignitaries, and mingled. But I could not stop thinking about my 14-year-old son, who had started eighth grade three weeks earlier and was already resuming what had become his pattern of skipping homework, disrupting classes, failing math, and tuning out any adult who tried to reach him.”

3. Emotion: This is used strongly throughout the article, because as human’s it is part of our base instinct to care for our children. The author is saying that it isn’t right to sacrifice raising your child for a career.

“Over the summer, we had barely spoken to each other—or, more accurately, he had barely spoken to me.”

4. Irony: The author shows the irony in feminism and how her entire conception of it changed for her.  It’s ironic that a business woman and feminist would feel this way about her career.

“By the end of the evening, she had talked me out of it, but for the remainder of my stint in Washington, I was increasingly aware that the feminist beliefs on which I had built my entire career were shifting under my feet.”

5. Setting: The author sets the initial story in Washington, away from her family, amongst politicians to emphasize her point that she was not where she needed to be.

“On a Wednesday evening, President and Mrs. Obama hosted a glamorous reception at the American Museum of Natural History. I sipped champagne, greeted foreign dignitaries, and mingled.”

I decided to choose this topic, because I felt the author had a very interesting and unique approach to the subject of feminism. It is not often that you hear a successful business woman admit that striving for such a competitive career may not have been her best choice in life. Also, I find the struggle between a career and family is something I can relate to fairly easily. I, personally, agree with this article. I originally planned to attend college to become a doctor. When I got married, I realized the long hours this would require was not something I wanted. I was not willing to sacrifice time with my family for a high-paying career. While I think that a career is important, I also believe spending time with your family is very important.