Archive: Language Matters
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Jun 23, 2010
No CommentsLet’s Lose the Phrase “Lost my virginity”
Many of my arguments for feminism revolve around the idea of language and working towards changing the idiosyncrasies of the way we use the English language in order to change the way we think about really important issues. I commented on a great personal story by Erica over at Feministe about the idea of “losing” virginity and what kind of implications and...
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Apr 11, 2010
No CommentsLong Live the Storytellers: Four Books About Writing
As a profession, writing seems to require periodic expressions of its own purpose, function, and value. Writers find themselves, at some point in their writing lives, inspired or required to consider the worth of their work in relation to a broad and ever-elusive concept of human as social animal. This critical self-evaluation extends beyond the kind...
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Apr 06, 2010
No CommentsLanguage: A Tool of Unacknowledged Communication
I find it so fascinating the way language choice communicates social and political values, though in many cases the speaker claims to be unbiased, or just neglects to acknowledge the view point their words espouse. For example, this article in the OC Register is making seemingly benign statements about people who live in the United...