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Hanifa AadilWriting 101010/15/11Rhetorical Analysis

Why Men Must Objectify Women In the essay The Female body , Margaret Atwood weaves seven vignettes on the nature of

a womans body into feminist satire, by using distinct rhetorical devices in each section to create

an effective statement on how the objectification of women is perpetuated by a masculine system

which attempts to hide the value of the female body from women.

Atwood introduces the female body by using chremamorphism when referring to the

female body as a topic (490). The sense of disconnect she establishes, creates absurdity and

humor, which translates into an effective satire as she parallels patriarchal views of disrespect

toward women and establishes her roots in feminism. She further accentuates the idea of

objectification through the use of repetition in epistrophe: I dump in the fuel and away goes my

topic, my topical topic, my controversial topic, my capacious topic, my limping topic....my topic

that is out of the question (Atwood 490).

In part two of her essay, Atwood creates catachresis through the extended list-like

metaphor of accessories for the objectified female body. Her diction emphasizes gender roles,

whether it be through the physical representations of garter belt...bustle, brassiere, or the ideas

of virgin zones and kid gloves (Atwood 490). The lengthy enumeratio builds to the climax and

focal point of a womans head being an accessory, piecing the parts of the essay together with

the thread of feminist satire.

In a third interpretation of the female body, Atwood alludes to an anatomical toy doll of

the female body that used to be sold. She creates an objective tone by stating the various colors

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and systems, then ends with the statement The reproductive system is optional, and can be

removed... We do not wish to frighten or offend, which becomes a social commentary on the

purpose of the female body and its perceived vulgarity (Atwood 451).

In the fourth section, Atwood uses dialogue in the third person to create a mysterious

exemplum about a subject that neither character mentions by name. The clues draw on

exaggerations of the female body with statements like If a real woman was built like that shed

fall on her face, which causes the reader to piece together connections, so that when they read

the words plastic tits they come to the conclusion on their own that the piece is alluding to

a Barbie doll (Atwood 491). This is effective because the readers brain made the feministconnection to the negativity of a Barbie, rather than Atwood making a direct statement that might

elicit a defensive reaction. She uses dirimens copulatio to balance the comments of the parents

with a humorous final paragraph. By continuing to refer to the barbie in the third person, Atwood

personifies the barbie and concocts a ridiculous image. She came whizzing down the stairs. She

was stark naked. Her hair had been chopped off, her head was turned back to front (Atwood

492). Atwood uses the juxtaposition of the parents arguments and the reality of their daughters

experience with the barbie to establish irony because though they were trying to protect her from

the distorted gender roles they perceived from the barbie doll, they were projecting an idea of

impressionability and weakness on their daughter.

The fifth interpretation literally objectifies the female body by referring to it as a door

opener, a bottle opener (Atwood 492). Atwood builds on the uses of the female body by

connecting it to the sales of cars, beer... diet plans and diamonds (Atwood 492). From the

idea of selling, Atwood grows to the idea of the female body being sold. Money flows into

this country... suitful after suitful, lured by all those hairless pre-teen legs. The economic

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implications of sex selling leads to the idea that its a patriotic duty to go along with systematic

prostitution. Atwood climaxes with the statement she is a natural resource, a renewable one

luckily, because those things wear out so quickly. They dont make them like they used to

(492). The logic she employs to construct this argument, effectively connects simplistic and

under-appreciated uses for the female body to a controversial reflection on the connection of

gender and capitalism.

Atwood concludes with a comparison of female and male brains. She begins by

underplaying the abilities of the female brain by referring to neurons as sparkles of information

washing to and fro (492). She does this to create a lesser tone of disdain when going on to talkabout the inadequacies of the male brain. She jokes that the right brain does not know what

the left brain is doing and that this is what makes the male brain objective (Atwood 493). She

plays on the idea of objectivity being glorified by contrasting societys positive connotations to

linear thinking with the shadow side of disconnect. She argues that not only are women equal to

men, they are better than them because they are whole rather than disjointed. She humorously

illustrates this wholeness with spherical imagery like a giant melon, like an apple, like a

metaphor for breast in a bad sex novel (Atwood 493). Through playing on phrases from nursery

rhymes and fairy tales, then connecting them to the institution of marriage Catch it. Put it in

a pumpkin, a high tower.... settle it down, so it can never get away from you again Atwood

makes the final argument that men recognize the value of the female body through a lack within

themselves and attempt to possess it through any means (Atwood 493). Men cant let women see

the value of the female body, for fear of never possessing it again.

Works Cited

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