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In Strict Binary Definitions of Sex and Gender are Problematic, author Patricia
J. Williams explores how the gender binary affects people in many different parts of
their lives. Williams examines these effects on cisgender and transgender individuals,
both male and female. The purpose of her article is to get her audience to think about
the gender binary, gender roles, and gender stereotypes, and hopefully realize that the
standards that are impressed upon individuals due to the strict gender binary are
harmful to the mental and physical health of many different types of people. Williams is
She is also trying to show how complex the issues of the gender binary and conformity
are. Williams uses many anecdotes and example to evoke emotional and cognitive
Patricia J. Williams discusses the gender binary and the difficulties that
transgender people face in our society. She talks throughout the article about Smith, an
all-girls college, and the challenges that transgender students pose for the
people; She talks about the awkward discomfort that many people feel around the
concept and questioning the stability and accuracy of the binary genders.
The article starts establishing Williams credibility from the very beginning. In the
very first paragraph on the page, although not technically part of the article, it states
that, Williams is a professor of law at Columbia University in New York City. This
shows that Williams is a scholar and is generally trustworthy and knowledgeable. Later
on in the article, in order to provide credibility for her claims about the heterosexual
male-female dynamic at an all girls college, and to provide insight into why she talks
specifically about womens colleges throughout the article, Williams says, I went to a
bedrooms and bathrooms, all but climbing in the windows on weekends. The article
itself does not do a great job of establishing ethos, but in doing a little extra research,
one can find that Williams not only earned her J.D from Harvard Law School in 1975,
but she also was a fellow at the School of Criticism and Theory at Dartmouth College
(Patricia Williams). Both of these schools are incredibly credible, and they do well in
published on many subjects, including gender, which helps to establish ethos for this
topic in particular.
Throughout the article there are many examples of logos, especially anecdotes.
In paragraph two, the first paragraph of the actual article, Williams illustrates an
example of some of the injustice and malice that transgender individuals may face,
saying, In 2009 a transwoman in Queens was pelted with rocks, beer bottles and
misogynistic [anti-woman] slurs. Just weeks before in the same borough, two men used
a belt buckle to beat a transwoman named Leslie Mora. These two examples together
are especially powerful, because they both happened in a small timeframe in the same
area. These are factual accounts of instances that transgender people have faced in the
past, thus showing logos. In the same paragraph, Williams illustrates another event by
teenage girls punching and dragging Chrissy Lee Polis from a women's room to the
is providing proof of this being a reality that many people have to face. In another show
of logos that is not an anecdote, in paragraph 10 the article reads, I don't want to be
sneered at for still having a woman's body, said a Bryn Mawr [prestigious Pennsylvania
women's liberal arts college] student in the process of changing genders. By using a
quote from an actual transgender person, Williams establishes logos through the words
of someone who actually experiences this treatment and harshness, rather than
The impact of this article is very much ruled by pathos. Williams starts off very
strong on pathos. Specifically, in paragraph 2, after referencing the video of the two girls
assaulting Chrissy Lee Polis, she writes, That video, made by an employee, shows
bystanders just watching, with little move to aid her. This quote is meant to evoke
frustration due to the failure of the bystanders to intervene, and to help people see the
unfairness and cruelty of this treatment. Following that, Williams illustrates how the
that fall short of violence. Insults and isolation in housing, the workplace, gyms, schools
and always, always in public bathroomspremised on resolute gender binarismleave
transgendered people forever making the "wrong" choice (Paragraph 3). This set of
sentences is meant to show the reader how transgender people feel and are treated by
others; it illustrates how hurt and alone they feel, surrounded in public by potential
attackers, for simply being who they are. This helps to get Williams point across
because hostility towards transgender people is fueled by the strict gender binary.
Williams also moves to include cisgender individuals as a way to show how this
strictness is harmful to more than just transgender people by bringing into question, the
culture of elective cosmetic surgery, or the cult of physical perfection that drives even
normatively gendered people to feel "not normative enough" and so seek to become
"more feminine" or "more masculine" through the wizardry of nose jobs, labial stitching,
liposuction, pectoral implants and breast enhancement (Paragraph 6). This section is
meant to show how cruel and harmful strict genders can be for everyone, opening it to a
more general audience. Here, Williams seeks to evoke anger and frustration with the
strict binary system through showing what many people believe must be done in order
show situations and raise feelings. However, she not as effective in her argument as
she could be because she does not make it all that clear what her feelings on the
subject are and she does not try to make it all that informative about the issue;
therefore, the paper isnt as much persuasive as it is generally interesting to think about.
She tries to convince the audience to rethink the gender binary and how it affects many
gender binary harming men and women through body image and gender dysphoria,
and through talking about how anyone who does not conform to their sex is
antagonized. In order to be a more effective article, Williams could have included more
statistics and quotes from people effected in order to show the extent and truthfulness
behind this issue. There also could have been more about how the effects of the strict
gender binary are harmful to all people while still keeping the focus on transgender or
gender non-conforming individuals. Williams also could have more clearly stated her
opinion and included some information about personal experience to show relevance
and authority through experience. This is a very important topic, because there have
been many times recently where transgender rights have been called into question
recently (e.g. Trumps military ban, the discriminatory bathroom laws), and the rise of
the feminist movement has challenged many traditional gender roles and stereotypes.
This issue is important to everyone, because throughout each persons life, there has
almost certainly been a point where a gender stereotype or gender role has been
enforced.
Works Cited
williams.
Williams, Patricia. "Strict Binary Definitions of Sex and Gender Are Problematic."
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