I do not interpret this passage the same way. In a rather convoluted way the author seems to be saying that labels often alter the way in which we conceptualize. We all recognize that labels such as "at risk" or the older term "juvenile delinquent" often affected the way in which the labelee's self perception. As to the Sapir Whorf theories, I revamped my old notions of Whorf and have been very influenced by Pinker et al. Recently I have begun reading fairly extensively about the deciphering of the Mayan language and find that some of the scholars, even some of the linguistically leaning have very varied opinions about Whorf. The strong interpretation of his "theory" is undoubtedly wrong, but weaker versions remain controversial. After having read Pinker and the Mayanists, it seems that part of the antipathy toward him stemmed from the fact that he was not part of the intellectual establishment and not even a classically trained linguist. > > But it is possible to imagine another story: that our cultural and > historical conditions have not just revealed transsexuals but > created them. That is, once "transsexual" and "gender-identity > disorder" and "sex-reassignment surgery" became common linguistic > currency, more people began conceptualizing and interpreting their > experience in these terms. They began to make sense of their lives > in a way that hadn't been available to them before, and to some > degree they actually became the kinds of people described by these > terms. > >--David Epstein > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
