TOW #10 - "Why gendercide is the real 'war on women'" - Written

Link to Article

I know a talk a lot about feminism and other social justice issues here, but I found this article and I thought it was really interesting. It's about "gendercide", or the killing of young girls either through abortion or murdering the child after birth. The author is Reggie Littlejohn, president and founder of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, an international organization that opposes forced abortion and sexual slavery, as well as advocating for women's rights in general. This establishes her ethos on the topic. The article was attempting to convince people to help stop "gendercide", as well as promoting the organization towards the end. The article used statistics in order to support the argument that was being made, including the statistics about China and India, how in China 118 boys are born for every 100 girls, due to sex-selective abortions. In China, sons are preferred to daughters and this has led to the abortion of female fetuses and the high human trafficking in China. The article also describes similar problems in India, such as the "sterilization camps", where many women end up dying, showing that the problem is deadly not only to young girls, but to adult women as well. The statistics used definitely enhance the argument, supporting it and providing evidence for the true existence of a problem. It also appeals to pathos, which is an important part of the argument and will make readers much more likely to take action, or at least learn more about the problem, which is not clearly visible to many people, especially the primarily American audience who is reading the article. The topic is highly emotional, preventing the deaths of young girls, and it obviously benefits the author to appeal to this, especially if promoting her organization. Appeals to pathos can be found throughout the article, including "We are stopping gendercide, one baby girl at a time", which appeals to pathos because everyone loves babies, and arguing that change is possible, and they are making strides to create the change that is needed.