Analyzing Purpose

What is anything without purpose?

Chris Lofqvist. "My life has no purpose". 3-29-13 via Flickr. CC-A-NC-ND.

Freewrite about the goal... What do you want your readers to ____ after reading it?
I think after reading my piece, I want my readers to know a little bit more about the gender gap and why it's important to do something about it. I also really want them to understand the concept of intersectionality and how different identities in combination can lead people to feel even more oppressed than we realized. They should also feel some type of way about what they just read. I don't care if they read it and end up supporting the gender gap or if they get angry or sad or what, but I want my piece to evoke some type of emotional response from them because that's how change starts to come about. I want my readers to want to help the situation after reading this piece, but more than anything I just want them to understand the situation as a whole.


Now compare likely and unlikely reactions to the piece..
Likely:

• reader feels angry and wants change
• reader feels sad, sympathetic, because they understand the severity of the situation
• reader feels confused about why this is even a big deal
• reader feels well informed
• reader was already familiar with the gap but learned about intersectionality

Unlikely:

• reader decides to support the gender gap
• reader is confused about what the gender gap is
• reader doesn't feel like they've learned anything new

Consider a plausible reaction to the piece and figure out what actions might come from it..
If the reader feels angry and wants change, hopefully they'll go out and make changes. I think the actions that could stem from this reaction to the piece could vary from the reader going out and becoming an active ally, to telling their friends about how outraged they are and getting them on board, to joining a group that fights the gap, to even just reading more about it themselves and working on their own personal knowledge of the situation.

Who are the audiences you'd want to address? Who is most likely to advance your cause?
I think I would want to address males with female family members or significant others that work in the tech, engineering, and startup industries. I think this is the group that I should impact most because the women are (or should be) familiar with the gap already because they live it, and men with no connection to the women affected by this gap my simply not care. However, if the men care about the women then they'll care about what the women are going through, like how they have to deal with this gender gap in all of their professional endeavors. With this new understanding of what women go through, hopefully more men will stand up and be active allies and supporters.