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Tyler Hamilton

English 102

Dr. Wynne

16 February 2017

Genre Analysis: Discrimination in the Workplace

Over the past century, discrimination in America has become a controversial issue.

Although gender discrimination predominately highlights the matter on women it also occurs in

men. In the article, Corporations Sued for Gender Discrimination Against Women and Men

written by Lahle Wolfe, and the image, Discrimination: A Workplace Disorder both try inform

the audience that discrimination is a major problem in America and provides a solution to

dissolve the issue. Both sources convey a clear source of information and try to get the reader or

viewer to think about their attitude towards discrimination. There are many ways to explain or

portray your point of view on a topic, but most of the time some ways, get the message across

better than others.

The article, Corporations Sued for Gender Discrimination Against Women and Men,

author Lahle Wolfe uses Logos to inform the audience about Gender Discrimination. Being that

the article is completely consist of words, its a little easier for the author to explain exactly what

he is trying to bring up. The author first tries to apprise the reader on gender discrimination and

some history behind it, basically explaining presuming that the reader does not know much about

the topic. He talks about all the possible things to look for in gender discrimination to give you a

better understanding so that you can better identify gender discrimination in person. For

example, Wolfe mentions women are also more likely to be judged by their looks and how they

dress than their male counter parts. This statement not only informs the reader of an example of
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gender discrimination but a real life scenario that the reader may be going through or observing,

now being able to put their tongue on what may be perceived as discrimination. The author keeps

a solid unbiased tone throughout the article.

The author clearly gives an explanation of gender discrimination and the different ways

people may be affected, and moreover, talks about what companies are going through for putting

employees through discrimination. While talking about the first company, Computer Sciences

Corporation, Wolfe effectively uses ethos to inform us on the subject. He cites credible sources

that were following the case trial and even has detailed explanations of case. For example, Wolfe

used the source PR WEB to find the verbal dialog from the case. He brings up a quote from the

female defendant, that was told to quit complaining when referring to how she felt she was

experiencing a pattern of gender discrimination and harassment. Furthermore, the author uses

Logos to intercept our thoughts with references to studies. We see this when the author mentions

the details in the Quest Diagnostics and Aeropathy case. Wolfe mentions that the company

agreed to pay 152 million to current and former female employees and also another 22 million

on a new human resources strategy. He uses this tactic to show us that this is a big problem and

affects a large amount of people.

On another note, in the picture entitled Workplace Gender Discrimination the creator

takes a very straight forward stab at the problem. Immediately you can see the female worker is

upset, struggling to stay happy because the man right next to her is smiling and not doing

anything. They share a desk that is larger on the males end while her side is broken off, small

and crowded with books and other things. Only a pen and a saw sits on the Males end of the

table. It is obvious that the man in the picture had something to do with the uneven and unfair

balance. As the man smiles, the woman looks back at him with anger as she works on paperwork
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while he is smiling looking forward. He is also in a suit dressed comfortably, while she looks like

her clothes are rather baggy and heavily covered like those of shirtwaist workers in the 1920s.

In the picture the artist effectively uses pathos to convey the message. You see the hurt

and frustration in the womans face while her male counterpart smiles and does nothing as she

struggles. The artist portrays how jarring it is for many females in the workplace setting. The

viewer can see how insensitive her coworker or boss is and it may hit some people at home.

Although the picture decently conveys the struggle of gender discrimination it doesnt paint the

full picture. Without the use of words, the artist has to convey a powerful message with one

image.

The picture perfectly shows the aspect of discrimination when it comes to over working women.

Despite that, women are sexually harassed, not allowed to get certain jobs, and are forced to deal

with other things behind the scenes that

Although both of the articles are on the same topic, the written genre effectively passes the

message better. Through the use of examples, and explaining the different types of discrimination

women and men may go through it is easier for the reader to understand the full picture. The

visual genre can be a powerful way to spark interest in the topic, but doesnt convey the full

picture. To conclude, the article, Corporations Sued for Gender Discrimination Against Women

and Men effectively explains the topic while the poster is more attention grabbing. The picture

did a great job in details, every part of the picture had some meaning towards the main topic.

Genres affect the way we perceive things, for some topics certain genres are better than others.
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References

Ligi, Savanna. Workplace Gender Discrimination. Digital image. Tavaana. N.p., n.d. Web. 28

Feb. 2017.

Wolfe, Lahle. "Gender Discrimination: It Happens To Men, Too." The Balance. N.p., 08 Sept.

2016. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.

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