Ban the burqa rhetorical analysis - Research Paper Example

However, as one might expect, these alternative views do not appropriately reflect the views of the author herself. Rather, notwithstanding the well-articulated counter arguments and the issue of freedom and legality that they necessarily entail, the author constructs an argument for the complete prohibition at worst and discouragement at best of the burqa within society. As a means of quickly seeking to jar the reader’s attention from the rhetorical strength of those individuals who have come out against legislation banning the veil, Berlinski shifts to the isolated cases of sexual violence that take place in the lawless suburbs of Paris.

As a means of distraction this is an effective tactic due to the fact that it instantly congeals the reader’s impression of Islam as naturally given to sexual violence, rape specifically, and depicts the male adherents as little more than sexually deviant thugs who are more than willing to cast aside all decency that a host culture, such as France, may have gifted them as a means of punishing those who dare to show a bit of self expression and freedom of strict Islamic tradition. As a function of shifting the debate from the broad to the specific, the author is able to convince the reader that her specific point of view is the most rational.

This rhetorical approach is not unique; however Berlinski applies it masterfully. Right after eviscerating Islamic European culture for being broken, immoral, and unrestrained, Berlinski states, “Yet the burqa must be banned. All forms of veiling must be, if not banned, strongly discouraged and stigmatized” (Berlinski 2). The argument deviates further from the subject matter when Berlinski brings in the topic of gynecological examinations of girls within many of the recent immigrant communities within Europe.

Although it is not the function of this author to make a moral judgment with regards to whether or not such a