Crime Of Passion Essay, Research Paper

Picture the scenario,a male supervisor invited a new female employee to lunch to discuss her work. On other occassion, over drinks,he attempted to fondle her. Situations like this occured everyday in the working place, and the term for this is sexual harrassment. Gender issues such as sexual topics. These topics are discused in essay written by Ellen Goodman and Catherine MacKinnon. Although both essays refer to the same subject matter, yet Goodman’s political approach and clarity in analyzing the topic is far more convincing than that of MacKinnon.

Ellen Goodman’s essay “The Reasonable Woman Standard” is a good example of feminism working aggainst sexual harassment. Goodman addresses her audience with the use of apeal. Her sensible suggestions show her readers that while she writes about reasonable woman, she proves that she too is reasonable. Goodman establishes her credibility within the first four sentences of her essay when she says,”we have discoverd that men about women see issue differently” (Goodman 509). By admitting that there is a wall of separtion between the sexes, Goodman establishes herself as believeble from the beginning. Ellen Goodman is credible in that she writes with a clear mind. Because she is not a radical feminist, she establishes astrong line of communication with her readers because she supports both men and women.

Catherin MacKinnon essay of “Sex and Violence: A Perspective” on the other hand is an example of an extreme radical feminine.MacKinnon’s idea is that men are always more powerful that women, and women are much more likely than men to label a given situation as harassing. There are several places throughout her essay that she claims the superority of men voer women. In one of her passageshe states that “we are taught that we exist for men. We should be flattered or at least act as if we are – be careful about a man’s ego because you never know what he can do to you” (MacKinnon 516). MacKinnon’s point of view against men is so extreme and subjective that her target audience may have a very limeit knowledge concerning the topic; therfore, difference between what is true and what isn’t.

The two essays that are written by Goodman and MacKinnon are on the same subject; nevertheless, there are very distinct style in presenting the issue to hte audience. Ellen Goodman represents her thought through a reasonable point of view. She clearly distinguishes the differences between women and men. On the other end of the spectrum, MacKinnon’s approach is of an extreme radical feminist; she claims one sex is more powerful than the other. Ellen Goodman establises her credibility very early in the essay; whereas, MacKinnon starts with representing the point of view for women. Though both essays communicat the same message of sexual harassment; however, Goodman’s essay is much more effective than MacKinnon’s in getting the message across.