But more importantly, anyone who can find a way to legitimately reference the "Ebonics debate of 1996-1997"(1) in the second paragraph of her book (which looks like an abridged version of the Bible) has my respect. And this is just the beginning...
Way to go, Robin!!
Speaking of Lakoff's introductory chapter... (called "What I Am Doing Here, and How I Am Doing It"), I counted the useage of some form of the noun "linguist" over twenty-five times. This was just during the first five of the fifteen pages in the chapter. I'm not sure why I counted, but I do know that i stopped and skipped ahead a few pages in order to get to the next chapter.
Once Lakoff gets over her obsession with asserting that she is a LINGUIST and what LINGUISTS do--she actually gets down into the "nitty gritty" of her book and uses examples that not only make since, some of them are funny.
The first two chapters, "Language: The Power We Love to Hate" and "The Neutrality of the Status Quo" examined the impact that words have on everyday situations, for instance what is "normal"--or rather, what is considered normal as defined by what is socially acceptable in a long line of so-called traditionally-accepted values and roles, i.e. the opinion of the general public becomes, in effect, "fact" (think of this as a Wiki-society).
"The Neutrality of the Status Quo" exposed the problem of gendered language, especially in the English language. In my American Women in Literature class, we discussed this issue as well. Most standard terms were originally worded in masculine terms, for example, policeman, congressman, etc. While in other languages, such as German, the words for person (Mann) and people (Leute) are considered "neuter" and different from the gendered words used for woman, man, girl, boy, and child. However, this does not mean that English is the only language who has gendered language. The word for teacher in German is Lehrer. However, this refers to a male teacher--a female teacher is a Lehrerin.
Even most insults in the English language actually revert back to a woman. "Son of a bitch" obviously refers rather directly to someone's mother. Even "bastard," an insulting term usually used by women and directed at men, actually calls back to the behavior of his mother--who has APPARENTLY had sex and born a child out of wedlock. Once again, the only reason people give a shit about that in the first place is because we live in a "Wiki-society," where the "social values" of either a) the majority or b) the powerful have been passed down for generations upon generations and have made people judgmental.
FOR EXAMPLE:
1) "The baby cried. The mother picked it up" (43).
2) "The baby cried. The mother ate a salami sandwich" (43).
As far as conformity goes, the first chain of events is a success. The mother who goes immediately to her baby's side the moment s/he starts crying is "good." The second example, unfortunately, is "bad" in terms of traditionally accepted parenting. When I read this example in Robin Lakoff's book to some of the residents that live on my wing in Schuylkill Hall (where I'm a Community Assistant), they had an immediate adverse reaction. This included saying things like: "What kind of mother would do that?" and "What's wrong with her?"
The second example in its semantics alone makes assumptions about women as a gender. By saying "the baby" and "the mother" the words seem to imply that woman is "mother" first and foremost. The fact that when a mother does anything other than care for her baby when it demands attention commands such a negative response, seems to beg the question: Why can't women have other interests/responsibilities/tasks/duties/jobs/etc. not related to motherhood?
Snap judgments based off of a deviation from the social "norm" are not different from other forms of prejudice that exist in society: prejudice = judging someone based off of how a group acts/should act. This "mother" in Lakoff's second example is judged because her experience of motherhood simply doesn't fit the mold. But...Is she even the baby's mother? Or did you just assume she was because she happens to be a WOMAN standing near a CRYING BABY. Where is the father? What if the baby is just crying for attention and s/he doesn't "need" anything (such as to be changed or fed). Since when are we in a position to criticize someone's parenting skills without invitation?
Kudos to Lakoff for shedding light onto this issue that most people don't even notice.
The difference between saying "I will" and "I promise" is defined by the exact meanings of the words "will" and "promise" themselves. If something will happen, it is being predicted to occur at some future time and date. However, if something is promised to happen, it becomes more concrete or "performative" (22) as Lakoff says. This reminded me of a teacher I had in elementary school. If a student wanted permission to use the bathroom, they were expected to say "May I use the bathroom?" If someone asked "Can I use the bathroom?", the teacher would give the smart-ass reply, "I don't know, can you?"
Lakoff's laundry list of indirect ways to apologize made me laugh, especially the highly-discussed "The cat looks upset" (24). I think it is alot easier for people thesedays to make trite observations rather than to take responsibility and be genuinely sorry for something they have done.
Society as a whole is looking for new ways to take responsibility off of its proverbial shoulders. For example, the new Lexus can parallel park itself using magical and mystical sensors that guide the vehicle into the space. Now...when one of those sensors inevitably breaks, whose fault will the collision be? What will THAT apology sound like?
In this great and magestic "Wiki-society" (otherwise known as America), you have been called to action. By Robin Lakoff, by her book "The Language War," by every soldier fighting the "War on Terror" instead of the Iraq War, and hopefully by your inner-idealist every time you hear the political rhetoric of today. So much of language is out of our hands today, and into the pockets of the powerful in government and big corporations.
But aren't all things that are worth having or understanding worth fighting for?
Welcome to "The Language War."
1 comment:
I like it alot kim
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