Funny it is okay that a dog is a dog, and that a bitch is a dog. But not that a man is a man, and a woman (opps sorry, woperson) is is a man.
To me the only people who have a problem with words are people who have a problem with their self worth. In fact my best pick up line ever was, "Hi, my name is Tom, I'm a jerk". Am I really a jerk? Don''t know, don't care, but the lady didn't have much of a chance for a put-down after I said that(grin), and it always got a laugh.
I suggest folks who let words demean them read this article on my webpages http://meanderings.graywolfphoto.com/resent.html it might help.
And remember: You are not a word, you are you".
frank theriault wrote:
I think you're missing the point of inclusive language, Bob.
I don't think that it's censorship. No one is saying that I can't say "policeman". Least of all the government, or anyone else who has any authority over me.
What proponents of inclusive language (or PC, although I don't like that term, as it's become rather derisive over the years) are saying is, "why not use "police officer" instead? It's not (as I see it) a matter of ~telling~ you what you can't say, but rather suggesting a better alternative.
I think that using words such as police officer, firefighter, workers (rather than workmen), chair (rather than chairmen) is merely a polite recognition that both men and women are capable of performing those jobs. I really don't have a problem with that. But, maybe that's because I'm a father of three girls, and I'd like to think that they'll have more and better opportunities for good jobs, in part because the use of inclusive language raises awareness that there ought not to be gender barriers to any jobs.
Will use of inclusive language solve all the problems of the world? Of course not. But, it's a good starting place, and a real easy one, IMHO.
I just can't figure out why so many people have a problem with it! Maybe someone can clue me in on this one.
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: Bob Walkden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Words (was -- Re: PDML numbers: Re: I haven't got *Ist D) Date: Sat, 4 Oct 2003 23:45:33 +0100
Hi,
I think you're being naive about language. I support completely and wholeheartedly all the causes you mention, but I do not agree that they have progressed through the censorship of words or language.
Orwell used the idea of Newspeak, a highly restricted form of language, because he thought that if you couldn't say a thing you couldn't think it. So by expunging words like 'freedom' from everbody's vocabulary the state thought people wouldn't be able to conceive of the idea, and that they could control people's thought. This is the same idea that causes people to use words like 'gender' instead of 'sex'. The particular case of 'sex' is the linguistic equivalent of the Victorians who supposedly covered the legs of their tables, so that men wouldn't be inflamed by lust at the thought of a 'leg'.
Newspeak doesn't work because the idea that we can only think what we can say is wrong. You can see that at a very informal level in sayings like 'the Greeks have a word for it'. People have the idea, the thought, the notion in their head, but they can't find the words to express them. But one of the fundamental rights we have is the right to express our thoughts, subject to certain sensible constraints.
What really happens when words are hounded is that they go underground.
Racism, sexism etc. are all still there, whatever you may think, but they're
not so open about it as they used to be. They're not going to tell you
to your face that they won't hire you because you're a Muslim, or a
woman, or disabled, because they know they're not allowed to say that.
So you've made your enemy harder to see, and harder to fight, and
still they haven't hired you. If you want to change that sort of thing
you should be going after the racists, sexists and so on, not innocent
words like 'sex'. You're misdirecting your energy.
While we're on the subject of misdirected energy, this is the last I have to say on the matter.
Bob
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-- graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com
"You might as well accept people as they are, you are not going to be able to change them anyway."
