Protest Writing: Betty Friedan And Valerie Solanas

Any piece of writing that expresses a strong objection to a certain situation or event, with intent to convince or catalyze a change in the readers view of said situation or event, may be classified as protest writing, regardless of structure, language, audience, point of view, appeals, or support. The only factor that classifies writing as protest writing is purpose: the purpose of catalyzing change and amending the things to which the writer objects. Radical texts are a vital part of protest writing. Radical writing is an extremely effective way of catching the public's attention and catalyzing change. A sense of legitimacy is not intrinsic to an effective piece of protest writing, as shown by the comparison between the writing of Betty Friedan and Valerie Solanas. One is an extremely effective and respectable piece that had no exaggeration or radicalism in its message. The other is a radical and over the top piece that has no sense of legitimacy or
She then references many popular and well respected media outlets that have stories that relate to her argument. She ends the piece with more personal accounts from women – including a personal account of her own. The structure of this piece begins with acceptable – almost scientific in tone facts and statistics. Then come more stories and commentaries about the plight of the American housewife as seen by the American media. She uses well respected sources to give society's perspective on the issue. Lastly she uses emotionally appealing personal testimonies – from housewives themselves – giving the end of her paper an especially emotional and visceral feeling that the reader is left with. The structure of her writing is very effective in adding a sense of seriousness and legitimacy- It eases the reader into the argument as it becomes increasingly focused and