- Which ‘side’ of the debate do you agree with?
I think that the company was right to take the listing down from the website. Although I understand that there were no bad intentions, the costume was inappropriate to sell. The wearing of the red Handmaid’s dress is a symbol of female oppression and protest. By making this ‘sexy,’ the company is taking away from the meaning of the dress and stripping the red colour and the understanding surrounding the dress away.
- Do you feel the reporter favours one side of the debate more than the other?
- What clues have you identified that indicate bias, if any?
When the reporter first describes the costume and the issue that comes with it, he says that the company took it “a step too far.” This suggests that he disagrees with the company’s views and that he thinks they should not have put the costume online. He also says that “unsurprisingly, many people found the costume offensive,” showing that he, himself, believes that the costume is offensive. The use of the word “unsurprisingly” suggests that the author, prior to writing the article, assumed that people would have similar views to him and therefore would be upset with the Handmaid’s costume.
- What do the selected tweets reveal about American culture?
Many of the tweets mention rape and sexual assault and how society refuses to take it seriously in real life. This suggests that American society and culture tries to cover up and prevent discussion about these topics. Although rape and sexual assaults are very heavy topics and many people do not like to talk about it, they are extremely real problems that occur much more frequently than we want. These topics need to be spoken about, not only within smaller groups but by larger, leading groups.
