Petula Dvorak's "24 drugs exist to treat sexual dysfunction. Guess how many are for women?"
Soapstone Analysis: Speaker: Being a woman, Petula Dvorak sympathizes with other women who are going through issues with no one trying to help them. She is an educated, opinionated woman who knows right from wrong- this issue is definitely wrong. Occasion: Dvorak wrote this article in in 2014, but women's inequality to men has been an issue for hundred's of years. Women make less money than men, they are told they cannot do the same jobs as men, and until 1920, women couldn't even vote. Women are in a long fight for equality and every little step toward it is an accomplishment necessary to make. Audience: This article is geared toward women's rights activists, which includes mostly women, but some men, too. Married adult women can most relate to this article and sympathize for the women who cannot receive medical help for something that men can. Purpose: Petula aims to inform and possibly enrage people over women not having any way to receive medical treatment for sexual dysfunction. It is unfair for men to have over 24 drugs for sexual dysfunction and for no one to help out the ladies. Subject: Over 24 drugs exist that treat men's sexual dysfunction. These are readily covered by insurance and advertised like candy. Women, however, have no drugs for sexual dysfunction. After hundreds of years, women still are not allowed to have sex for enjoyment and bonding but a man not having sex is a problem. Tone: Dvorak's powerful tone in this article is agitated and critical. She critical of doctors and company's telling women their problems are all in their head or they don't need to have sex anymore because they already had kids. It's annoying to have problem this huge and everyone telling you that it doesn't matter.
Analysis of diction: Petula Dvorak's high and precise diction attracts her audience and enables her to point out the injustice of women's situation. She describes Judith Reid-Haff as wearing a "dark blazer, a skirt and mile-high red patent platform heels" as she goes to the federal panel to confront them about women not having sexual dysfunction drugs. These "mile-high red patent platform heels" imply power. Reid-Haff is standing up for something and she will not back down. Dvorak includes this detail to emphasize the importance of women not having the same privileges as men. Reid-Haff journeyed on a "long road to find a doctor who would listen to her" and wouldn't dismiss her problems. Dvorak chose the words "long road" because in women's rights history, it has taken long, hard work to gain equality. Dvorak's choice of words effectively aids her argument of unfairness in the sexual dysfunction drug industry.