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Subject:language use and hypersensitivity From:"Marie C. Paretti" <mparetti -at- RRINC -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 18 Sep 1997 08:19:20 -0400
I'm not about to argue for or against the various words/phrase both the
serious and the cynical have trotted out. But:
I'm always intrigued by the fact that those who derisively trot out
"political correctness" typically fall back on the idea of
"hypersensitivity" -- as if all these
feminists/liberals/African-Americans/choose-your-target are all sitting
around saying "Damn. I am SOOOOO offended by this."
Most people I know are much more radical: we care about language use
because we have the odd notion that somehow language and perception are
intertwined, that how we describe something affects how people perceive it
and that those perceptions may in turn, slowly and gradually, shape social
interactions -- you know, "her skin had a ghostly glow" versus "she looked
near death."
And despite the fact that a previous poster writes "after twenty some years
of trying to fine-tune language to change people's attitudes, I'm not sure
any of this has made one whit of difference," kids today grow up with a
different language and they do see the world differently -- for instance,
in terms of what careers are open to women. Language may not make *all*
the difference, but I wouldn't be a writer if I didn't believe words matter
at least some.
Marie
Marie C. Paretti
Department of English Recognition Research, Inc.
University of Wisconsin - Madison Blacksburg, Virginia
mparetti -at- facstaff -dot- wisc -dot- edu mparetti -at- rrinc -dot- com
Sometimes I feel like a dog
standin' on a tool box
in the back of a pickup truck
doin' 90 round a corner
just tryin' to hang on for dear life.
James Bonamy
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