Throughout the article I was mildly uncomfortable - I didn't know if she was attempting to insult the Church and its stalwart, "old-fashioned" women, or if she was trying to praise them. After examining the article more closely and considering her tactics, I realized that she was trying, I think sincerely, to praise these "Mormon housewives," but her obvious unease with the Church as whole seemed to undermine her argument. One such medium for this was the ethos to which she appealed; An overwhelming majority, if not all, of her quotes came from either ex-mormons or at-least-somewhat-anti-mormons. Therefore, considering that her argument, at least my understanding of her argument, was that Mormon moms make motherhood look fun and meaningful was, I think, crippled by her already biased use of ethos - a bias that did not support her argument with possible counter-arguments and their respective rebuttals, but weakened her argument by undermining her credibility.
Over all I very much appreciated her insights and comments, but I wish they would have been more believable - an accomplishment that could have easily been done had she wanted to and had she used her ethos in a supportive manner.
Interesting viewpoint on the ethos. I didn't see What you saw in the paper, but now i can see where you are coming from. she also brings up the issue of family life and how that's going in this world which also feels like ethos. good summary though.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. She never did quote anyone who was an active member of the church. I think she didn't want to research it, she just wanted to give an accurate outsiders view of the blogs. That is very interesting. And yeah, I wasn't entirely sure what the argument was either but I think your understanding was pretty accurate.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I found her approach to the subject to be what most "overeducated, atheist women" think of the church. I think she would lose the audience of other people in her situation if she was too generously kind towards the church quoting members, because most people aren't interested in reading something that overly praises something they already disdain--people want to read something that mirrors their sentiments. Most people in her situation don't always see stay at home Mormon mommies as something very positive, and so quoting people outside the church would be a more comfortable approach. I don't think I'm making sense...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the part where she is trying to praise mormon housewives for their interesting blogs i suppose. I find it interesting how you said this wasn't really an argument just a thought on why people are so interested in reading these blogs. Because at the same time she is arguing but she isn't so it changes my perspective on how i view what she wrote.I didn't pay attention much to the credibility on some like you stated. So its interesting to see what your perspective on that was. Didn't really think about the possible ex-mormons, and such, very neat.
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