The Culture Of Overwork By Judy Rebick Analysis

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Philosophy 152 Tutor-Marked Exercise 3 “The Culture of Overwork” by Judy Rebick 1. The author’s purpose here is to explain and persuade the reader. Her main idea is that overwork is becoming a norm. The information that the author provides in her article is relevant to the subject she is discussing for the most part. Rebick begins by indicating to the reader that she herself is a workaholic. When looking at the content of the article, she refers to statistics Canada studies that are directly related to the subject here in our own country. This is also information that is gathered across the country and not in just one province or city. Redick also references a “U.S. study” that discusses the prevalence of broken families as…show more content…
study shows that family breakup is three to eight times more likely in couples with children if one parent works nights or does shift work.” The author does not provide any further detail about this particular study other than it is an American study. It would be rather difficult for me as the reader to validate this information without knowing the exact source of the information. There would be many different sources for American studies, as well as I am sure there have been numerous American studies that would relate to work hours and family. Due to the fact that the reader is unable to validate or look into this study further, it discredits this point in the article, thus causing further questions and scrutiny of the entire article and points made. The author does this again when looking at the statistics Canada study. Although she does make mention of the year of the study, there is no further information about where to find or review the study itself. There is a reason that using references and giving credit to those who completed the research is important. I often find myself reading something, and wanting to dive further into the content and learn more about the topic discussed. With this poor use of sources, it makes this a more challenging feat for those who wish to learn…show more content…
Throughout the article, she references women and the culture of overwork, completely disregarding the men in society today that are “workaholics” in order to support their families. Because of her feminist beliefs, she takes a primary view of the issue as one the only effects women in this article. There are however a large number of men who become workaholics in order to support a family, where the woman chooses to stay home with the children for example. When Rebick states “women need to make overwork a major public policy issue,” she is being prejudice towards the male population that is also effected by overwork. She only references woman in her advice on how to overcome the issue, therefore leaving out a major demographic in the workforce. Due to the fact that the male population is completely disregarded from her arguments, it shows a major prejudice in her writing for this
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