Ninety-six years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment gave American women the right to vote, a new age of feminism has taken over. For the first time in history, a majority of women are able to achieve higher levels of 'success' and work in positions that were once exclusively for men. As a result, many modern day mothers work as well as manage the home front. Yet, despite this shift towards equal rights, Anne Marie Slaughter agues that it may not be for the better. As the first woman director of policy planning at the State Department, a foreign-policy dream job, she faced first hand the struggle of balancing her professional life with her family- ultimately resulting in her resignation. Within her article in The Atlantic, Slaughter uses relatable anecdotes and as well supported facts to show her idea that until society changes in order to allow more flexibility, women can't "have it all"
In facing such a controversial topic, Slaughter draws on her own experience to show how working in high level positions is not condusive to a maintaining successful family relations, and afterwards uses well corroborated facts to support her claim. In the beginning, she talks about how her position didn't allow flexibility for her to maintain her job performance and be an active participant in her children's lives. "I could no longer be both the parent and the professional I wanted to be—at least not with a child experiencing a rocky adolescence (Para. 11)" By admitting how she, even a high power executive and self proclaimed feminist, had trouble achieving a balance, she strikes to make her claim more valid.
In addition to her own personal stories, Slaughter also uses data and other professional’s accounts on the topic to generate reasoning. She points to other high-powered executives, claiming, " I am hardly alone in this realization. Michèle Flournoy stepped down after three years as undersecretary of defense for policy, the third-highest job in the department, to spend more time at home with her three children, two of whom are teenagers. Karen Hughes left her position as the counselor to President George W. Bush after a year and a half in Washington to go home to Texas for the sake of her family. Afterwards, she comments on the overall structure of American society and how the business world is still unprepared for a women workforce by not allowing women, "to work off-site or to have flexible work schedules."
By combing her personal experience with other firsthand accounts, Slaughter is able to successfully comment on how, in order to women to fully achieve equality, we must insist on changing social policies. Simply put, instead of forcing women to choose, we must bend career tracks as a whole to accommodate their choices.
In facing such a controversial topic, Slaughter draws on her own experience to show how working in high level positions is not condusive to a maintaining successful family relations, and afterwards uses well corroborated facts to support her claim. In the beginning, she talks about how her position didn't allow flexibility for her to maintain her job performance and be an active participant in her children's lives. "I could no longer be both the parent and the professional I wanted to be—at least not with a child experiencing a rocky adolescence (Para. 11)" By admitting how she, even a high power executive and self proclaimed feminist, had trouble achieving a balance, she strikes to make her claim more valid.
In addition to her own personal stories, Slaughter also uses data and other professional’s accounts on the topic to generate reasoning. She points to other high-powered executives, claiming, " I am hardly alone in this realization. Michèle Flournoy stepped down after three years as undersecretary of defense for policy, the third-highest job in the department, to spend more time at home with her three children, two of whom are teenagers. Karen Hughes left her position as the counselor to President George W. Bush after a year and a half in Washington to go home to Texas for the sake of her family. Afterwards, she comments on the overall structure of American society and how the business world is still unprepared for a women workforce by not allowing women, "to work off-site or to have flexible work schedules."
By combing her personal experience with other firsthand accounts, Slaughter is able to successfully comment on how, in order to women to fully achieve equality, we must insist on changing social policies. Simply put, instead of forcing women to choose, we must bend career tracks as a whole to accommodate their choices.
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