The clip that I have chosen to look into
includes a discussion panel with all males discussing the role of women in
today’s American society. This video is very biased, with male dominated
comments and thoughts being expressed. The issue in subject is based on the
idea that ‘women have become the breadwinners’ in America, meaning that the
woman of the family is the one who goes out and earns the money to support the
family, which is seen by the panel as ‘terribly wrong in American society’ as
well as a ‘scandal’. I find this a very controversial subject. Typically, it is
thought that the male of the family is the individual who will work to earn to
support the family, however with the latest equality regulations in place
meaning that men and women are equal in not just employment, but all aspects of
life, I do not find it surprising that women are seen as the one who earns
money.
With today’s economic recession, it is
understandable that both parents of a family work to earn a sufficient income
to provide for their family. The recession has affected many people through job
cuts for both genders, not just ‘men who were hit hard by the economic
recession’. The semantic field of the language is generally negative based
around damage to families due to women providing financially, which implies
that the men on this panel do not think that this should be the case.
The language used by the men in this debate
is very effective. The lexical field is related to damage, with the use of
words such as ‘torn’, ‘scandal’, ‘terribly’ ‘bad’. Rhetoric’s are used to add emphasis
by one male, stating that ‘having the mom as the premier breadwinner is bad for
kids and bad for marriage’ implying that a working woman will lead to the breakdown
of marriage relationships and family life.
Quotes taken:
“Women have become the breadwinners in this
country”
“Our society is being torn in so many
directions”
“Scandal”
“4 out of 10 families, the woman is the primary
breadwinner”
“Men who were hard hit by the economic
recession”
“Terribly wrong in American society”
“Impact for generations to come”
“54million abortions”
“Disintegration on marriage”
“¾ of people surveyed recognised that having
the mom as the premier breadwinner is bad for kids and bad for marriage”
