Hope and Addiction
The first blog post that I read was centered on the apparent double standard that Hope Solo is facing in regards to a domestic violence case. The post begins with a quote from a New York Times article that claims that Solo’s domestic violence scandal should be treated in the same manner as Ray Rice’s case. Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author of the blog post, claims that these cases are inherently different. To support this claim, he offers a flimsy argument, claiming that this “exists outside the bounds of human history.” Next, he devotes a paragraph to bashing current media for “[dumping] all manner of insupportable violence committed by athletes into the same bucket.” This paragraph stands out from the remainder of the post. This is largely because it shows Coates’ apparent desire to lift himself above contemporary media. In the next paragraphs, he switches from examples of domestic abuse to race crimes. While Coates is attempting to establish a connection between past and present issues, the examples presented do not easily relate to each other. This attempt to link examples makes the article appear even less structured that it already had appeared. The following paragraph attempts to drive in his argument, but the core argument of the paragraph is centered around the claim that “There is a reason why we call it the ‘Violence Against Women Act’ and not the ‘Brawling With Families Act.'” The article ends with a recap of all of his talking points. While Coates uses embedded links effectively to show his sources, the fact that the comment section of the article is disabled limits the ability of the article to interact with its readers. Readers are unable to share their views of the author’s opinions.
The second post that I analyzed was much more effective at presenting its argument and subject matter. The post begins with information from a study that compares public opinion on mental illness with the public opinion on drug addiction. The study is integrated well into the post, giving the entire article more structure. Krisberg, this post’s author, also includes several statements that offer her own stance on the issue. She appears to be sympathetic toward addicts. This is made evident in her inclusion of information meant to “reduce societal stigmas around drug addiction.” The entire article is presented in a very straightforward manner. All of the facts are given, and she offers an analysis of these facts that help the readers form their own opinions on the issue. While the article does not contain pictures or other forms of media to interact with the viewers, it does contain a comment section that allows viewers to voice their own opinions. The post ends with a call for action and a link for more information. This is a great way to interact with the readers and other institutions, working towards the same goal.
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I think the most interesting part about the Hope Solo blog post is that the author is a male. After reading that article, I would be forced to assume that the author was a female, as it makes the argument, which you pointed out, that Ray Rice pumbling his fiance is not the same as Hope Solo beating up on her family. I agree with you when you say his argument is pretty loose, AND that the lack of a comments section really hurts the post. Why wouldn’t there be a comment section? No clue. Anyway, I totally agree when you say his statement about Ray Rice compared to Hope Solo “exists outside the bounds of human history” is a poor argument. Aren’t we currently living in a society that would die before inequality is put down? Equality at every level is constantly advocated for in social media, and here is a perfect opportunity to display how just our society is, yet we are failing to do so.