Betty Rollin's Motherhood: Who Needs It?

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In any debate, in order to be a successful proponent for your argument, you must make your stance stand out better than the others. You could use a variety of strategies linguistically, from citing examples to playing upon the audience’s emotions or by debunking your opponent’s ideas. One author that uses language with the intention to appear more trustworthy, as a faction in a controversial debate, is Betty Rollin. The core issue Rollin discusses is what she refers to as the “Motherhood Myth”, in which she defines as “…the idea that having babies is something that all normal women instinctively want…need…and enjoy doing…”. In her piece “Motherhood: Who Needs It?” she employs many persuasive tactics so that she seems more reliable than her …show more content…
Biologists, sociologists, biologists, psychologists, and psychoanalysts flood Rollin’s paper. She mentions many esteemed professionals in order to support her stance, it is shown when she cites Dr. Jessie Bernard who says “Biological destiny? Forget biology! If it were biology, people would die from not doing it.”. She also mentions a motherhood-researcher, Dr. Frederick Wyatt, and the president-elect of the American Sociological Association, Dr. William Goode, in an attempt to show her argument is academically viable. Citing rational examples also aids Rollins in her effort of standing out. Dr. Anna Freud, the daughter of infamous Sigmund Freud, is one of Rollin’s examples and Rollin’s illustrates that someone that has contributed so profoundly to the field of child psychology lacks children herself. In addition to bringing up thoughtful examples, she also references peculiar incidents such as the case where a lawyer said “my client, Mrs. Breslow, is a mother, a grandmother, and a great-grandmother!” as a defense for a woman whose criminal neglect of the building she owned lead to the death of many children. Rollin’s writing style is purposeful in discrediting contrasting
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