Summary
Current trends towards equal rights and responsibilities between men and women give rise to many debates about the equivalent effectiveness in different fields. Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a Professor of History, majoring in the study of Italy. In the article “Women should have to register for the draft,” she expressed her opinion on women’s military service and the issue related to gender equality. Despite the fact that the author makes objective arguments, she describes the situation only from the historian’s perspective and does not answer the article’s initial question.
In the case of a threat, it may become necessary to recruit many people for military service. In order to know who can meet specific requirements, the Selective Service System (SSS) conducts the registration of citizens aged 19 to 25 years. The SSS only involves men’s registration, and since this is the leading military structure faced by civilians, the Ben-Ghiat believes that it should be open to women1. Her article aims to prove the importance of the registration of women in the SSS for gender equality. To do this, the author gives several arguments that rely on historical facts. According to them, women should be registered, since for a long time there are no legal grounds not to do this, the army is becoming more progressive, and ladies have long been part of the armed forces. She also discussed the resistance to female service provided by some military structures.
The arguments presented in the article are objective, as the author justifies her opinion with legal and historical facts. Potential bias may carry Ben-Ghiat’s perspective on gender equality. However, she avoids emotional comments and uses references to support her statements. Moreover, the beginning of the article states that the opinion presented in the text belongs to the author, which means that it does not claim to be completely objective. However, the arguments do not answer the article’s questions and, because of this, are not sufficiently convincing.
The answer to the issue of only male registration in the SSS influencing gender equality is only implied in the article’s general direction. Since the author believes that women need to register, she probably means that excluding women from conscription is unfair. In her arguments for the importance of female registration, readers are more likely to find an answer to why women can do it rather than why they should. Ben-Ghiat says laws prohibiting ladies’ participation in hostilities have not been in force for a long time. She also claims that the army has become fairer, as units allow women participation. Moreover, history knows many heroic female examples involved in conflicts, some of which went unnoticed. These facts do not show the importance of women’s conscription, only that they are already in the army and need to be noticed more.
The subsequent discussion of some military resistance to women’s involvement and studies on equal opportunities in the army does not support the author’s opinion. Ben-Ghiat does not refute their statement that women are weaker, and this gesture negatively affects the article. Another critical aspect that is lacking in the discussion of the equality topic is women’s opinion, except for the author’s one. The article’s theme is not fully disclosed since it is not sufficiently reasoned and does not display all points of view.
The text may not be persuasive due to specific weaknesses. Examples of such errors include lack of objectivity, grammatical errors, unclear justification, inadequate support, and unclear assertion2. Analyzing Ben-Ghiat’s article according to these criteria, it is possible to determine its strengths and weaknesses. The author’s advantages are in her commitment to objectivity and literacy. Her main assertion is clear, but the shortcomings – inadequate support and unclear justification reduce statements’ significance. In this way, these errors indicate the lack of persuasiveness of the text and argument.
An analysis of the article’s persuasiveness can also be supported by its comparison with other work on a similar topic. The newer article, “Should women be eligible for US military draft?” asks the same question as Ben-Ghiat3. However, the arguments presented here are more adequate and manifest several views for evaluation. In addition to the fact that women’s inclusion in the draft should contribute favorably to gender equality, this need is also dictated by more objective reasons. The American population’s growth rate is rather low, and female registration in the SSS will provide a high level of protection in a critical situation, for which men are not enough.
Moreover, the text represents the view of feminists on this problem. Surprisingly, their opinions are also divided into two opposing camps. Some women believe that the SSS registration not only benefits gender equality but also opens up additional career opportunities for women. Other representatives believe that feminism as a whole should oppose the war, as women and children are more affected by conflict. In this way, this article presents a broader view of the problem than Ben-Ghiat.
Thus, the Ben-Ghiat article does not provide sufficiently persuasive arguments on why women should be registered for the military draft. She also does not answer the question of how it affects gender equality. Although the author tries to be objective, her text gives the historian’s point of view. Moreover, the arguments of the various sides are not sufficiently represented. For these reasons, despite some positive features of the article, in general, its persuasiveness is under doubt.
Bibliography
Ben-Ghat, Ruth. “Women Should Have to Register for the Draft.” CNN, 2016. Web.
Persing, Isaac, and Vincent Ng. “Why Can’t You Convince Me? Modeling Weaknesses in Unpersuasive Arguments.” IJCAI, (2017): 4082-88.
“Should Women be Eligible for the US Military Draft?” BBC News, 2020. Web.
Footnotes
- Ben-Ghiat, Ruth. “Women Should Have to Register for the Draft.” CNN, Web.
- Persing, Isaac, and Vincent Ng. “Why Can’t You Convince Me? Modeling Weaknesses in Unpersuasive Arguments.” IJCAI, (2017): 4083
- “Should Women be Eligible for the US Military Draft?” BBC News, Web.