SWA #11 - 02/14/12 - Developed Point

Main Point #1:

            Aafjes makes it clear throughout her article on rights based sports programs for women that she knows an ample amount of background information on the programs, which in turn gives her a lot of credibility to the reader. She highlights two of the programs throughout the article to use as a basis for her argument. These are the Woman Win organization and the Safe Spaces program. For example, Aafjes discusses the foundation of the Safe Spaces program and its founder, Nthenya Musyimi, when she writes, “As a child, she had witnessed the injustices women faced in the slums… She realized she could be most effective as a role model, finding that girls who participate in the Safe Spaces program have an increased determination to escape from the slums” (286). The idea that Aafjes knows a lot about the founder of one of these programs and the details of why it was created indicates that Aafjes is very knowledgeable about Safe Spaces. This knowledge guides the reader to believe that she is someone whose opinions he/she can trust. Aafjes further pushes her readers to trust her argument when she discusses the premises of these rights based programs when saying, “Rights-based programs, like those supported by Women Win, are designed to accomplish two major goals: first, to educate each participant about her rights; and, second, to help her build life skills that allow her to pursue the avenues necessary to realize her rights” (288). By outlining the core values of the programs Aafjes attempts to gain support for, the audience gets an assuring feeling that they know what they are investing in. She makes these programs sound very beneficial and necessary, and the fact that she knows the details of their goals further builds the trust between her and her readers. Another section that contributes to Aafjes trustworthiness and the overall quality of her argument is when she wraps up her summarization of the programs by stating that a rights based program “begins with the premise that every person has rights, and then educates and empowers an individual to achieve his or her rights” (288). She goes on to say, “The ultimate goal is to help a young woman escape from poverty, achieve economic independence, and become a fully-developed human being” (289). By going to great lengths and into great detail about the objectives of the programs, it becomes clear to the reader that Aafjes is very passionate about this issue. Knowing this fact, the reader can assume that Aafjes did a great deal of research to realize the necessity of the programs and build that passion. It is much easier for a reader to agree with an argument when the writer takes the time to inform her readers exactly what she is arguing for. This concept simply makes Aafjes’ opinion and argument even more trust worthier in that one can say to themselves that she obviously knows what she is talking about, so her stance on the issue is likely a good one. Aafjes undoubtedly uses her knowledge about the rights based programs she argues people to get behind to build trust with her readers and make her argument more compelling.