According to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), to be college and career ready students must be able to construct logical arguments using facts and reason. A feminist perspective provides an alternative point of view on the value of argumentation. The purpose of this study was to question the theories that frame the current CCSS 9-12 English language arts (ELA) standards and to propose alternative theories to be considered by literacy pedagogues in teaching of the standards. I conducted a thematic content analysis of the 9-12th grade writing standards and related content in the "CCSS for ELA." Data revealed two shared areas between feminist pedagogy and ELA CCSS: (a) value of critical thinking; and (b) teachers' and students' power to make decisions about class content. However, three points of differences also became clear: (a) view of literacy as classified; (b) lack of women's voices; and (c) hierarchy of academic writing styles. Implications for practice require teachers to use a dialogic rather than a monologic framework for writing instruction.