debenedi@yale-com.UUCP (Robert DeBenedictis) (09/18/83)
It seems to me that the perfect "tool of oppression" would be one which the oppressor did not know s/he was using. This way the (mean, nasty) oppressor can feel absolutely no guilt over oppressing the (poor, beleagured) oppressed. Language can be the perfect "tool of oppresion." The unwitting oppressor claims (and firmly believes) only the best of intentions when he refers to the "girls in the office." However, those "girls" most definitely find it degrading and insulting to be referred to as children. In causual communication it is often hard to discern intent. For their part, the oppressed should try to only take offense at that which was meant to offend. Equally, the oppressors (i.e., anyone who doesn't feel oppressed (?)) should try to watch their language, being aware of the fact that they could be unwittingly hurting someone's feelings. Robert DeBenedictis
preece@uicsl.UUCP (09/27/83)
#R:yale-com:-204200:uicsl:16400021:000:1137 uicsl!preece Sep 20 09:11:00 1983 The unwitting oppressor claims (and firmly believes) only the best of intentions when he refers to the "girls in the office." However, those "girls" most definitely find it degrading and insulting to be referred to as children. ---------- My mother-in-law always uses 'girls' for secretaries, including herself (she's 62, maybe she likes thinking of herself as girlish). I'm sure she doesn't mean in to be degrading. Her daughter, my wife, and I (that's just two people) always flinch when she uses the term. Language is a tricky bastard. I'm sure 'girls' was originally used in a familial sense; remember it used to be common for companies to view themselves as families. Now we call that paternalism. Intentions, assumptions, and protests all find their way into very simple word choices. I tend to favor a little more care in choosing words, a little more attention to the sensibilities of the reader than seems to be the preference of the language conservatives and a little more attention to the sound of the language than is favored by the 'language is part of the problem' crowd. scott preece pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece