Challenging the Norms

The belief that women are only capable of doing household chores and childcare is a very

deep-rooted stereotype that has evolved from traditional gender roles from way back to the days

of the cavemen. The men were assigned as the hunters and protectors while the women did the

planting and nurturing of their children in the safety of their caves. “These roles were mostly

assigned that way because of their physical differences which made people believe that it was in

our nature for men to provide and women to nurture” (“Hunter-Gatherer Culture”). Now in

modern society, we see men being seen as the ones who are earning money by working while

women are at home cleaning, cooking, and taking care of their children.

No one looked at this like it was an issue until World War II, they ran out of men to work

for them and started to look for women to put them to work. These women “worked in factories,

Red Cross, and served in the military all during the war. After the war ended, the women wanted

to keep working but they were forced out of their jobs because lots of their work was war based

and the ones that were not had their jobs given to men who were looking for work after coming

back from fighting in the war” (“History at a Glance”) even though the women showed that they

were just as useful and capable of doing the work they were given as men. After they got their

jobs taken away was around the same time that the feminist movement started to rise where they

were fighting for gender equality. They worked so hard for the ability to have jobs, vote, and take

part in all different parts of society. This helped the women get rid of the stereotype that women

can't work and gave them more opportunities but they were still not getting the equality and

treatment they deserved. Thus the feminist movement sparked.

 The feminist movement fought for women's rights, the right to vote, work, and take part

in all different parts of society. This helped the women get rid of the stereotype that women can't

work and gave them more opportunities but they were still not getting the equality and treatment

they deserved. Even to this day These days we see this in men who are constantly pushing their

toxic masculinity. Andrew Tate, for example, makes videos saying how much women suck that

they’re useless, and that their only purpose is to reproduce. When he puts out videos like this on

the internet he passes on his beliefs to children who don't know any better. Even with all of this

women hate we still see women who continue to break down the barrier of stereotypes by

working just as hard as men if not harder, taking care of their families, and still get underpaid.

One example is my aunty, Aunty Trisha, who faced lots of misconceptions and

stereotypes as a single mother in the workplace. She was a single mother to her daughter Kapua

and wanted to provide the best life she could for her. When her daughter was born she was a

dental hygienist but decided to challenge herself by joining the navy. Some people would ask her

why she would want to join the Navy while being a single mother, implying that what she

needed to do was find a man who could support her financially. Although she did have doubts

about being able to perform physically and mentally while also being responsible for her

daughter, she was able to train, earn respect from her colleagues, and provide support and

dedication to her daughter. Her accomplishments proved that women were not only capable of

taking care of children and doing household chores but also capable of doing much more work

even in the circumstances that she was in.

 The belief that women are only capable of doing household chores and childcare has been

proven wrong by so many women like Aunty Trisha and the women who worked during World

War II. Although people have thought of them as weaker humans who aren't capable of work

these women have shattered the stereotypes that society has put on them. They show that they

are capable of doing more than just household chores and childcare by doing exactly what men

can do in the workforce.

 Rhetorical Analysis

In my pastiche paper, my main focus was to challenge the stereotype that women are only

capable of doing household chores and taking care of children. To prove the stereotype wrong I

use pathos, logos, and nomos to convey the message that women can achieve great things outside

of the house. I start my paper with some background of the stereotype so that the reader

understands why it is such a common belief. I then transition into my logos where I provide

historical evidence about women working during World War II. The evidence includes quotes

from reliable sources stating that women did the same jobs that men did. These facts that I pulled

prove that men and women are capable of doing the same things in the workforce therefore

supporting my argument that women are more capable of doing more than household chores and

childcare. After my logos piece, I move on to my Pathos piece about my aunty’s experience

being a single mother in the Navy. Her story conveys her as a relatable person to women and her

story makes the readers feel inspired by viewing her as a person who didn't let societal norms

stop her from what she wanted to do. Since there is an emotional part of this story it taps into the

reader's emotions and makes them feel more emotionally invested in her story. This evidence of

my aunty and her story reinforces the message and shows that women are not limited in the

things that they can do. In the end, my nomos piece sums up why the stereotype is wrong and

that it can be hurtful to women. All of the evidence I provided uses logos to show historical and

modern evidence and pathos to convey emotion to persuade the readers to shift their perspective

on what women are capable of.

 Works Cited
“History at a Glance: Women in World War II.” The National WWII Museum | New Orleans,

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/

women-wwii. Accessed 28 Sept. 2023.

McDermott, Annette. “How World War II Empowered Women.” HISTORY, 2 July 2018,

https://www.history.com/news/how-world-war-ii-empowered-women. Accessed 28 Sept.

2023.

“Hunter-Gatherer Culture.” Nationalgeographic.org,

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/hunter-gatherer-culture/.

Accessed 3 Oct. 2023.