Toulmin Analysis They Went Whistling: Women Wayfarers, Warriors, Runaways, and Renegades (2001)- Barbara Holland

Pilar Vizzo 11/01/2012 According to Barbara Holland, in the conclusion of her book They Went Whistling: Women Wayfarers, Warriors, Runaways, and Renegades (2001), women have been allowed to have careers as a way to keep them busy so that they are not voicing their opinions on critical issues that exist or may arise. Instead of using their energies to participate in politics or law passing, they are occupied with keeping the “establishment” safe since keeping their jobs or careers has been imposed as a means of distraction and have them focused on keeping their jobs instead of speaking their minds in true liberty.

Careers for women are another task added to the long list including, but not limited to: laundry, housework, and taking care of their children. After all the fights for equality, women still make less money than men in the same or equivalent careers. Some of the grounds that Holland points out are: “Apparently, some of us are making more money than we used to make.

Some of us may be getting more respect from the neighbors. Few of us seem to be having independent adventures. Holland also states, in regards to women who have a career, “Does the congresswoman really have more fun than the barmaid or more freedom than the housewife? Probably she spends her days in dull meetings, drops of the dry cleaning, picks up some groceries, and spends her evenings with dull constituents. ” And in regards to women’s careers being an entrapment, “The higher we rise professionally, the deeper the shackles bite.

“In the 1960s, ardent young women joined ardent young men clamoring for civil rights reforms, peace, nuclear disarmament, sexual freedoms, equality, offbeat religions, and legalized pot. ” She continues with, “Late in the twentieth century, the restless, opinionated women found an outlet in energies in jobs, the kind of jobs described as careers, and this may the world safer for the establishment. Who would stand and shout on a soapbox when a senior partner might be passing by? ” Holland presents evidence of the fight for civil rights etc. y women occurring in the 1960s, which is partly true, but not completely accurate as the history behind the equal rights amendment shows that the “first visible public demand for equality came in 1848, at the first Woman’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, who had met as abolitionists working against slavery, convened a two-day meeting of 300 women and men to call for justice for women in a society where they were systematically barred from the rights and privileges of citizens.

1 It seems the “fight” date way back before the 1960s. Holland also makes a statement about space being an option women will be able to explore, but there are two women, in 1998, listed as already achieving some part of the astronaut aspiration. Holland does mention to only have looked at the “L’s” in Who’s Who in America 1998, before “giving up”, but there is no real supporting evidence that would make this part of the argument true in regards to the straight forward statements. As far as sarcasm and getting that across, it does imply exactly that.

It is hard to disagree with Holland completely in regards to careers being more of a way to tie women down, since it is true that women, for the most part, not only work in their careers, but also take care of their children, drive them to and from school or doctor’s appointments, do most of the housework, and the cooking. There is a noted struggle to balance life and work, especially for women since careers are very time consuming and require complete dedication to be successful.

I think Holland does make a valid point that women, even after all the fights for equality, still make less money than men in the same jobs.

They may think that they are free to work and achieve their aspirations, but even when they reach the stars, their pay is still not the same as it is for men. Although I think it’s better for women to go after a career, it does seem that they are more burdened since they are tied to other responsibilities more than men are no matter their career choice. It does seem that we, the working women, will never really be “equals” in the workforce and are imprisoned by the false promise of true accomplishment and fairness. Source: 1http://www.

equalrightsamendment. org/era. htm