The first logical fallacy that appears in her writing is appeal to authority. In paragraph one of her editorial, Paglia begins discussion by recalling her experiences in college when she was still young. She establishes how restricting social expectations were on women, explaining how “throughout history, women have been chaperoned [...] we had to be in the dorm under lock and key by 11 o’clock” (Par. 1). She continues, writing that despite opposition, her “generation was the one that broke these rules” (Par. 1). With this statement, she is implying that because of her experiences of fighting for freedom in the past, she has expertise over women’s issues. The problem in doing so is that she places focus on the fight for women’s rights, whereas…show more content… Paglia continues her editorial by once again establishing her own authority, writing that while her generation was aware of the risks they were taking while fighting for freedom, today’s young women “don’t want to acknowledge the risk” (Par. 2). This sentence not only demonstrates a false authority, but it also paves the way for the usage of straw man. She continues, explaining how “young feminists today are deluded [because] they come from a protected, white, middle-class world, and they expect everything to be safe” (Par. 3). The issue with this statement is that it creates a distorted, rigid version of the opposition, clearly showing the characteristics of straw man. By painting women today in this light, it makes it easier for her to attack them and strengthen her own points. She continues to use straw man when she writes how these women are “nice, genteel, sexually repressed white girls coming out of pampered homes, and when they arrive at college and suddenly hit raw male lust, they go ‘Oh, no!’” (Par. 3). Additionally, it’s important to note that she’s only placing the blame on white women. In regards to women of color, she describes them as coming from “cultures that are fully sexual, and they are fully realistic about the dangers of life” (Par. 3). In this situation, she’s using hasty generalizations on women of
