Feminism

Assignment type Essay
Discipline Political Science
Description Papers will require that you address a debate/dispute from the course material. You will be required to defend a position in a way that tries to persuade the reader (i.e. me) that your argument is better than the alternative. You are free to choose any side of the debate; the paper will not be graded on the basis of what is the “right” answer, but rather on the ability to defend an argument and on the quality of the writing and organization. It is crucial that the introductory paragraph presents a clear thesis statement (as in “this paper will argue…..”) and that the main body of the paper provides evidence in support of the thesis statement. A section of the paper should also be devoted to presenting the other side of the debate and telling me, the reader, why it is unsatisfactory. The capacity to argue a position while thoughtfully addressing the other side of the debate is an important skill to cultivate in all our intellectual endeavours and hence will be an important part of the paper. The topics for the first paper are the following, and you are free to choose either one: 1) On page 113 of Chapter 7 Caroline Kennedy-Pipe makes the following statement: “Let us invert part of the feminist argument here and reflect on whether the reluctance to allow women into battle and the efforts to save [Jessica] Lynch represent a prizing, not a degradation, of the female.” Do you agree that the example cited by Kennedy-Pipe represents a prizing, not a degradation, of the female? As can be inferred, there are two potential thesis statements in each topic. In the first, one side of the debate would argue that yes, the example cited by Kennedy-Pipe does represent a prizing of the female, while the other side of the debate would argue no, the example does not represent the prizing of the female. In the second topic, one side of the debate would argue that making the individual the ultimate referent comes at the cost minimizing the importance of collective actors, while the other side of the debate would argue that it does not do such a thing. Your job will be to first, choose one of the two topics above, and second, choose one side of the debate that you will argue. In order to do this well, you must first read very closely the assigned readings and especially the chapters from which the above quotes were obtained. Then, think deeply about which side of the debate you find more convincing, and once you do this, you can proceed with reading in more detail about the topic from reputable media and scholarly sources, and once you do this, you should be able to start writing according to the criteria mentioned above.