kathleenmariedy-blog

[kathleenmariedy-blog]

Women in power bring more benefits to society. Having more women in positions of power would mean more laws and policies geared towards improving the lives of women and children as well as of the family. Women are known to be closely involved with community life and with this, an addition of more women in authority would mean interests of local communities would be addressed. Currently, the number of men leader compared to women leaders show a big difference as there are still countries that have not made progress concerning women leadership.

 In this article the writer intended to persuade the readers on the benefits from having more women in positions of power. This can be in the the title of the article, Everyone Benefits from More Women in Power. A claim of policy is a claim that talks about what policy should be followed and what procedures should be adopted. The article claims that more women should be in power and calls for equal political opportunities. This can be seen in the line by Winnie Byanyima “It is not about men against women, but there is evidence to show through research that when you have more women in public decision-making, you get policies that benefit women, children and families in general” as well as in the line “I reminded everyone that her unborn daughter will be 50 before her world offers equal political opportunity. And that baby will be 80 before she has equal economic opportunity.” This shows the current situation of the world and if people do not act, women would still be accorded second to men in the generations to come.

 The author of the article, Marianela Jarroud, is a Chilean journalist who has been reporting for Inter Press Service since February 2012. Some of her articles include The Waves of the Pacific Are on Chile’s Energy Horizon, Small-scale Fishing Is About Much More than Just Subsistence in Chile, Terrace Farming – an Ancient Indigenous Model for Food Security, Chile’s Altiplano Region Seeks Sustainable Tourism, Latin American Legislators, a Battering Ram in the Fight Against Hunger, Hydropower at Front and Centre of Energy Debate in Chile, Once Again, Land Tenure Still a Challenge for Women in Latin America and more.  The article was published by the Our World web magazine. The Our World web magazine shares expert views, research and commentary on contemporary affairs of relevance to the mandate of the United Nations. This award-winning web magazine, brought by the United Nations University (UNU), exchanges these insights through video briefs, articles, debates, photo essays and public events.

 The purpose of the article, Everyone Benefits from More Women in Power, was to persuade readers that putting women in a position of power is not a bad idea but one that should be considered and acted upon. This can be seen in the line by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka “There is already enough evidence in the world to show the positive impact of women’s leadership. Women have successfully built and run countries and cities, economies and formidable institutions.” Although this statement supports the main idea of the text, it could have been made stronger with examples to justify it. Furthermore, the following statements show statistical evidence of the change in society pertaining to women in positions of power: “In 1995, women accounted for 11.3 percent of the world’s legislators, and only the parliaments of Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden had more than 30 percent women. And only three women were heads of state and seven were heads of government.” and in the line “Today, women represent 21.9 percent of parliamentarians globally, and 39 lower houses of Congress around the world are made up of at least 30 percent women. In addition, 10 women are heads of state and 15 are heads of government.” Moreover, pathos, the appeal to the audience in a way that relies on their emotional or personal connection to the subject matter can be seen in the text. This is supported in the line “I reminded everyone that her unborn daughter will be 50 before her world offers equal political opportunity. And that baby will be 80 before she has equal economic opportunity.” Generally, it can be said that the purpose of the article was attained.

 Based on the text’s context, the supporting ideas were able to reinforce the text’s main idea. This could, however, have used more supporting claims that come from a credible source. Furthermore, the text was able to prove that the policy is needed so as to empower women more and be able to give them more opportunities to apply their leadership skills. The policy being supported on having more women in positions of power and the call for gender equality is very much something practical and reasonable. This is one way to surpass the stereotypical assumption that women are meant for housework and men are called to lead society. Moreover, the text was able to to show how the policy will be able to benefit them as seen in the line which was talking about a pregnant woman set to give birth in six weeks, “I reminded everyone that her unborn daughter will be 50 before her world offers equal political opportunity. And that baby will be 80 before she has equal economic opportunity.” One of the actions pleaded in the article was to “put equality on the political agenda” and that “change cannot continue to be the sole responsibility of civil society groups that defend the rights of women, but requires action by the authorities and those in power — both men and women.”

 In terms of organization, the text was organized fairly well as it started with an introduction, body, and conclusion, as well as a call to action in the end. The introduction can be seen in the first paragraph which gives a brief overview of the author’s stand and what the article is about. This is followed by the body which is supported by various statistical data, quotes from important people and reports to justify the claim.  Furthermore, this is followed by the conclusion as seen in the line “According to the female leaders and experts meeting in Santiago, change cannot continue to be the sole responsibility of civil society groups that defend the rights of women, but requires action by the authorities and those in power — both men and women.” This line gives the text some sort of closure and wrapping-up which is good. Lastly, the call to action is seen in the following lines: “Twenty years after the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, women know what is needed to reach gender equality. Now it is time to act.” and “The heirs of Beijing are the heirs of voices that call on us and urge us to put equality on the political agenda.” Overall, it can be said that the text is well-organized.  In addition to this, no hypertexts were used in the article.  

 Transitional devices are important because they help carry the reader from one idea to the next. They help a reader see the connection or relationship between ideas and, just as important, transitions also prevent sudden, jarring mental leaps between sentences and paragraphs. The text, however, did not use any transitional devices which is something that could be improved to make the text more consistent. Overall, it was observed that each of the sentences related to the main topic, however, the sentences were not properly connected using transitional devices.

 In terms of language use and word choice, the author did not use any foul language and the choice of words were appropriate for the text. Furthermore, punctuation marks were also properly used as well as capitalization. Moreover, the refraining use of contractions gave the article a more formal atmosphere which is something commendable. In terms of cohesion, the text was fairly cohesive as one sentence related to the next. Aside from this, the coherence of the text was very good as it was able to focus and tackle various important points about the issue.

 In conclusion, the text was very well-written and the properties of well written text were evident, although the transition from one idea to the next needed something to connect the different ideas. Having a well-written text goes hand in hand with how well the readers will be able to grasp the message of the text. Readers will be more captivated reading a text if it can appeal to the audience.

#girlpower