Niceness Rhetorical Analysis

In Barbara Ehrenreich’s essay, she writes about the positions women adopt. A woman willing to be accepted must have a veneer of “niceness” with society, especially with men. Ehrenreich argues “The essence of ladylikeness is a persistent servility masked as niceness.” “Women tend to assume that it is our responsibility to keep everything “nice” even when the person we are with is rude and aggressive.” “Wherever we go, we are perpetually smiling”. This mask is what we are showing to people, constantly trying to convince of our “niceness.” Women are ladylike because of a lack of toughness. The way that we act with people is like some kind of disease. Women have to act this way because according feminist psychiatrist Jean Baker Miller, “woman’s