Escamilla1

Childfree: An Option to Keep a Stress Free Life Many women are now choosing to live a life without having children of their own. Opting out of motherhood is becoming the new normal for many females, affecting the way they are judged by more traditional women as well as affecting the birth rates in America. In the article Child Free, written by Deana Lawson for Time magazine, the author gives insight to this new lifestyle by using a mixture of pathos and logos to provide understanding for why women are now electing a life without children of their own as well as details about the women themselves and the struggles they deal with due to their lifestyle choice. Lawson successfully presents to women the option of not having children yet still having a fulfilled life by providing many examples of women who have chosen not to trade in their adventurous lives for Lulu lemon maternity pants, a stroller, and a pack of diapers (42.) Using continuous examples of women testifying that their lives are completely fulfilled in part by the ability to be spontaneous without having to deal with the obligations that accompany having a child, Lawson effectively utilizes pathos to covertly affect the readers beliefs about motherhood, causing one to believe throughout the reading that parenthood is the cessation of most social amenities and that couples can now be free [f]rom all the contingencies that come with children (42.) Lawson continues presenting throughout the article, women who are buoyant in their views about not having children being in their best interest, leading the article to be very one sided. Logos is continuously intertwined with adequately amounts of pathos in the article to further attempt to prove that women without children are conceivably happier, or in this particular case, smarter. The author puts into use evidence provided through a study taken by a

Escamilla2

researcher, Satoshi Kanazawa; at the London School of Economics in which he believes his findings present that [c]hildless women are just smarter (41). This statistical quote being logos is immediately followed up by an example of pathos in which a quote from an author, Laura Kipnis, explains why couples without children prefer to be called child free instead of child less. Kipnis explains, Childlessness is for someone who wants a child but doesnt have one. Its a lack. Im not lacking anything. This clever combination of rhetorical tools is useful to change the views of doubtful individuals as well as empower the views of one thinking about this lifestyle choice. In conclusion, the authors sequences of pathos and logos contribute greatly in the papers underlying persuasive agenda. The use of either pathos or logos individually would not have had as great of an impact as did the two working intermittently together. Lawson prospers in creating an article that appears to be not so in your face about the views it may be trying to introduce whilst inconspicuously altering the way one may view child-freeness due to the relevant quotes that are presented from women that seem generally relatable as well as the statistical references from credible scientists that collectively support the lifestyle with no children of your own.