In “The Private War of Women Soldiers,” Helen Benedict, the author uses logos, pathos, and ethos to tell the story of women getting raped in the army. Although she gives shady information and her point of view is somewhat biased against men, the article is powerful and will be an aid in raising awareness about the issue.
Benedict’s purpose in writing this article is to raise awareness about the issue. She uses examples of women getting raped as an appeal to ethos and pathos. Benedict writes, “Many female soldiers say they are sexually assaulted by their male comrades and can’t trust the military to protect them. ‘The knife wasn’t for the Iraqis,’ says one woman, ‘It was for the guys on my own side.’” She informs us of these brutal situations that happen in our own army to try to raise attention to the issue. How can you read about a woman getting raped and not feel any emotion? Because this is such a serious subject, it automatically will stir up some emotion whether good or bad. Because Benedict is writing about such a strong subject, her writing can be weak and she can get away with it. She tells us that, “Comprehensive statistics on the sexual assault of female soldiers in Iraq have not been collected,” but then goes on to give us numbers and statistics from polls she has found. Even though her writing is a little weak at times, and she contradicts herself, the article is still very powerful.
Benedict has many audiences that she reaches with her article. Her intended audience is women that are in the army or those that want to join. Benedict portrays the army as a scary place where is you are a women, chances are, you are going to get raped. This appeals to the logos because who would enter a scary place willingly? Benedict writes, “ As (a woman) told me, ‘It’s like sending three women to live in a frat house.’” Although that is a major exaggeration it gives an idea of how girl-crazy these soldiers really are. Another one of Benedict’s audiences is America. Benedict wanted America to hear the story of some of these women and wants America to take a stand. The article will appeal to people’s ethos because most people will want to help. One of Benedicts unintended audiences would be rape victims. As scary as this article is, it gives hope to those that have been raped and feel alone. They can realize that they are not the only ones and there are girls everywhere in the exact same situation. It gives them a sense of unity and will hopefully give them enough courage to start reporting and crime instead of keeping it inside.
Benedict’s stand on the issue is illustrated by the quote, “I can’t help wondering what the women among those troops will have to face. And I don’t mean only the hardships of war, the killing of civilians, the bombs and mortars, the heat and sleeplessness and fear. I mean from their own comrades – the men.” She is scared for these women in the army and wants America to be scared for them too. She portrays men as being the bad guys, giving few examples of platoons that don’t have a raping problem. This is a little off-putting for men reading this article, thus making them uninterested in what the author has to say. She could have given a couple examples of men getting raped in the army or gave more examples of men doing the right thing, to keep men more interested in her article.
Benedict gives her information in the form of an online article. Because it is an online article, not a newspaper article, or one for a serious magazine, she can get away with being less professional. She said she interviewed, “them for up to ten hours each for a book I am writing on the subject.” She loses some credibility there and makes her article seem more like a preview for her book rather than a serious article. The online article is easy to read with short, to the point paragraphs that keep the reader interested. Because it is online it is easily accessible, unlike newspaper articles where you would have to find the newspaper that you were looking for, if you still had it. The article will be on the Internet forever, letting millions of people read it through many generations. This is probably something Benedict was thinking about when she was writing this article.
Although Benedict’s article, “The Private War of Women Soldiers” lacks in some areas, it is still very good. Benedict appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos throughout the entire article. She gives facts and numbers and stories that keep the article interesting and make it powerful.
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