This article seemed intended to answer that very question. What it actually did is laud Mitt Romney's accomplishments (which had not impressed me to date) and explain, using enthymeme (and actual statement), why he is clearly the superior choice to President Obama.
The conversation went something like this:
Article: Women marry for Status.
Article: Mitt Romney has money, class and (because of his numerous sons and grandsons) superior DNA.
Ideal Reader: Clearly, Senator Romney should be the more attractive candidate for women because he can provide for every female in the country like a good, upstanding man should when elected to office.
To quote one memorable passage following the author's commendation on Romney's superior reproductive abilities (again, because masculine success in measured in male heirs - not stated but understood within the article):
Professor Obama? Two daughters. May as well give the guy a cardigan. And fallopian tubes.So, to recap, this article doesn't even use enthymeme half of the time, it completes its own syllogisms in almost every case.
Women like powerful men. Romney is an alpha-male. Women should vote for Romney. (With an attractive side dish of: Obama is practically a woman.) (this also begs the question: By this logic, shouldn't Obama vote for Romney?)
The articles biggest misstep in my opinion: it assumes that I don't want a president with Fallopian tubes.
Ha! Hilarious! My dad spawned two sons. My brother has a son and so do I. Does that make me a shoe-in for president? The enthymeme here I think misses one important point: nobody gets to marry Mitt. They don't get his money either. They would get his policies, which include limiting their right to choose between marrying a man or a woman and having a child or not having a child. I agree with Mary. I think we have an enthymeme fail on our hands.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the humor in the article (if you want to call it that) is in the completion of the syllogisms. Otherwise it may be a bit crude. Oh wait, it IS!
If you ran against Romney, I'd vote for you. I like that second enthymeme you analyzed in your comment. I was so busy being insulted that someone would assume that I wanted to marry Romney that I didn't even realize the futility of being upset. It's not like he'll marry and personally provide for the whole country if elected.
DeleteI disagree with you both rather completely. I think he matches my fantasy male projections. I want to be like him. I want money and sexual prowess. Very much the ancient Greek Ideal. Only...I want more. Multiple wives or women. So...I guess he misses the modern male fantasy: polyamory without commitment or children to break the estate.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a disagreement though. I never said his policies and persona were unappealing to males or failed to live up to at least a part of the male stereotype. My point is that he single-handedly alienates the 51% of the nation he is trying to convince by disregarding their sex as wholly shallow and unintelligent.
DeleteIt's one of those strange attempts at humor, that article - I like your idea about the stating of the enthymemes directly - it makes me wonder if this can be understood as part of a comic strategy too, even though it's not really that funny here, at least for me. But it seems more like a comic strategy that the Onion or the Borowitz Report would use, rather than a partisan magazine opposed to all things Obama. Just a light moment, I suppose, but still. Very odd....
ReplyDeleteI wish this had come from the Onion (although then I would have needed to find a new piece of news for this class). At least then I could write if off as a joke. I found it funny in the I-half-to-laugh-or-I'm-going-to-cry way. It takes such a flat and marginalized view of women and makes a lot of assumptions about the qualifications of women even to vote, certainly to lead.
DeleteWell-that article certainly evokes emotion! I agree that this is all based on paradigms. There are few if any hidden meanings here. This article says what Mitt Romney and his campaign party cannot state themselves due to necessary "enthymemical" tact. It's like very basic animal instinct logic. Mitt Romeny big man. Mitt Romney have lotto bones. Mitt Romney big winner man. Mitt Romney best president!
ReplyDeleteThe article is pretty hilarious...I'm just wondering...is this author serious? I've never read this publication before...
...and for the record? I think Jay-Z is way more bad ass than Romney.
Agreed. Jay-Z, while probably not a better president, is definitely higher on my list of cool people. I'm almost positive the author is serious. You should check out his Twitter some time.
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