Women are more fashion-conscious than men. (Barron GMAT 11th edition)
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30 Mar 2021, 05:24
Women are more fashion-conscious than men. Women’s clothing styles change ever year, forcing them
update their wardrobes so as not to appear behind the times.
Discuss how logically persuasive you find the above argument. In presenting your point of view,
analyze the sort of reasoning used and supporting evidence. In addition, state what further
evidence, if any, would make the argument more sound and convincing or would make you
better able to evaluate its conclusion.
PS:I scored 6/6 on the GMATAWA, so i'm always open to share what I wrote. Special thanks to chineseburned
for his outlines method
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In this argument, the author concludes that women are more fashion-conscious than men. He bases his conclusion on a common misconception that women’s clothing styles change every year, forcing them to update their wardrobes so as not to appear behind the times. However,stated in this way, the argument fails to mention several key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluated. Therefore,the line of reasoning in this argument is problematic in several aspects.
First, the argument is misleading for assuming that women have an edge over men just because they shop more frequently. In reality, the amount of money one spends on a garment should correlate with one plans to wear it. For instance, formal business suits remain in style for decades as compared to an evening gown lasting a few month sometimes. Hence, it is worthy to optimize the value you get for your money. Without a detailed study portraying the utility values for each garment, the conclusion is much weaker.
Second, The argument claims that keeping up with the trend raises women’s self awareness . This is unclear as it doesn’t demonstrate the psychological reasons for women overspending on clothes and other accessories. To illustrate this phenomenon, a recent research by professor Karen Pine, found that 79% of women admit going on a shopping free to cheer up, almost thrice as men. In addition, she concluded that women buy articles of clothing as an emotional mean to numb themselves to negative feelings and dissatisfaction. Ultimately,this raises suspicious doubts on women’s superiority when it comes to vogue.
In summary,the argument is flawed and is thereby unconvincing, for the above mentioned reasons. It could be considerably straightened if the author mentioned all the relevant factors while providing irrefutable evidence to support his position. In addition, in order to judge which gender is more fashionable, I advise taking a closer look at emotional and psychological motives, in this particular case shopping to cure depression, as without this vital information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open debate.