Using Ethos and Logos to Show The Pragmatism View Point as Depicted in Anne-marie Slaughter' Why Women Still Can't Have It All

Pragmatism in the Ranks of Women

In Anne-Marie Slaughter’s article, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” she addresses having a high class job and being a mother in this modern day. She uses her own personal experiences along with other high ranked female officials to convey why women cannot really have it all in regards to a top-notch job and a well-functioning family.

Slaughter realizes that her original belief that women can have it all was not necessarily true and shares the unrealistic standards placed on women compared to men and the negative mindset that these expectations can force on women. She interpreted her peers’ pity and condescending comments as them “implying that [her] parenting skills and/or commitment to [her] profession were somehow substandard” when she made her decision to resign (Slaughter, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”).

This is a golden moment in time for Slaughter to address this issue, because at this time the push for equal treatment of men and women, especially in the workplace is at an all-time high and many women are trying to figure out what is the next best step in their high-end career. Slaughter effectively conveys with ethos and logos that, at the current time, it is not an obtainable goal for women to truly have and ideal life as a full-time official and a mother.

Some readers may find it unfulfilling that Slaughter chose to not include a detailed standpoint of lower and middle class working women, however she is “writing for her demographic” and would lose her credibility if the article was any other way (Slaughter, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”).

Anne-Marie Slaughter is using what she has experienced and what she has witnessed of those around her, which makes her credible as a first-hand source. She shares the conflicting moment of when she is attending the Obama Family’s reception at the American Museum of Natural History and while everyone is enjoying themselves she can’t help but ponder over her teenaged son who had recently been having behavioral problems.

Even Anne-Marie Slaughter, a woman on top of the political food chain, and known among many, is still finding herself unhappy and her life unbalanced. Her use of ethos allows her audience to believe in the message she is powerfully expressing as the audience will know that Slaughter experienced so she is knowledgeable on these points. Her addressees will connect with her more and be more willing to take in what she is proving.

Anne-Marie Slaughter includes a sound resolution to the unbalanced lifestyle of the full-time office worker and mother, however she also shares the worlds reluctance to adapt and improve not only the lives of employees but also their efficiency. She shares that with our new technologies today having meetings right from employees’ households would be an easy task. Records from Women’s Business Center reveal that if more businesses utilized the available technology of today, employees would have more “flexible work schedules” and be able to actually come home at a reasonable time instead of practically living in the office (Slaughter, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”).

Nevertheless, businesses continue to remain office oriented which, as a result, continues to leave mothers at a disadvantage in the occupational world. Slaughter shares this data to display that there are options to solve these office problems, but they are not being used by choice. This is another way to convey that the world is not ready for women to have the best of both worlds. Anne-Marie Slaughter uses this fact to push her audience more towards her view that it is just not the right time for women and mother’s to have a successful pull in both the life of a mother and a high-official.

Conclusion

Slaughter’s use of ethos and logos proficiently deliver her point of where women stand in the business world of today. There are too many factors holding women and mother’s back that are out of our control. The world of business is practically set up so that women cannot “have it all” and be stuck at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy. She uses her credibility as someone who has been in situations related to this topic and facts that further prove her point to sway her audience to her side. Since so many women are looking for guidance and someone to look up too in this day and time, Slaughter takes advantage of this ad utilizes these points to lead women in the right direction and not to be too disappointed.