“About Men” Responses

1. Ehrlich’s purpose for writing about men is to compare “the popular view of the cowboy with the cowboys she knows from her own experiences living in Wyoming.” Her goal for “About Men” is to have readers understand that cowboys are not all trigger-happy desperadoes looking for trouble, but they are working men, who provide for their families.
2. A quote that explains her point of view is, “If he ‘rides away into the sunset’ it’s because he’s been on horseback since four in the morning moving cattle and he’s trying, fifteen hours later, to get home to his family.” The rhetorical device she uses here is sarcasam. You would expect a cowboy to ride off into the sunset at the end of a movie after saving a town from bandits, or other criminals. Instead she makes a joke by stating that cowboys are not all “heroes” like depicted in movies, but normal people too.
3. I agree with Ehrlich because people are easily stereotyped. From the moment we meet someone we can stereotype them just based on appearance, this is also known as first impressions. I have been stereotyped because as a man, people assume I play a sport. So when they ask what sport I play and I tell them I do not play any, they are surprised.