Despite never making a definitive assertion, linguistics professor Deborah Tannen, convinces her readers that discrimination against women exists in the most hidden ways in our culture in her essay There Is No Unmarked Woman. Using comparison and contrast, Tannen persuades her audience of the reality that women are inherently labeled in our society. She begins the essay with a personal account of the ways she distinguished three women she encountered at a conference based on their physical appearance. Tannen exposes how women are immediately scrutinized based on how they chose to present themselves. Their clothes, hair, and/or make-up automatically determine who they are. She then contrasts this to baseline standard men are held to. Unlike women, there is no true distinction from the norm men can produce with looks and they are less often judged for making these choices. Tannen effectively convinces her readers by forcing them to think back on their own personal experiences. By identifying this inequality, the reader is exposed to just one way women are subjected to unfair branding. …show more content…
“Ess” or “ette” are often added to words so as to make them sound feminine. Similarly, women have to choose between titles such as “Miss,” “Ms.,” or “Mrs” for themselves as opposed to solely “Mr.” for males. Tannen gives insight into the insecurity women feel when choosing what to call herself, knowing what will be assumed of her as a result. She also discerns the added inconvenience that is added to the lives of females in order satisfy cultural conventions. The reader can empathize with women ate this point, visualizing what it may feel like to publicize one’s marital status with two or three