re: #182 Simply Sarah

First off, I notice that you’re, well, using the very word ‘see’ you were using as an example before. :P

Yes, because I don’t actually think it’s necessary or beneficial to avoid using such terms, except in very particular circumstances.

I would argue that many gender roles are built specifically on enforcing and furthering privilege and power. Men are strong, women are weak, for example.

Yeah. That’s not what I was talking about. If men are strong, and women are weak, if you’re a man who isn’t strong, if you’re a feminine dude, then you’re in trouble. It’s not about enforcing power and privlege, it’s about enforcing identity roles. It’s an important difference. Being born male leads to more innate power and privilege than being born a woman does— being born male and highly effeminate leads to less. It’s not just a structure to ensure one group is favored, it’s also to define that group.

And I don’t think stopping the usage of these terms will fix anything by itself. My major hope is, as I’ve said, to make people more aware of what they’re saying and what it represents.

But what if they know, but think as I do, that it’s an intractable problem of language reflecting culture? What are you achieving if they are aware of the gendered nature of language, but disagree with you that avoiding gendered terms is useful?