What’s in a word? Plenty, if it’s Marriage.

The name of my first section is indeed the title of chapter three in George Lakoff’s book Don’t Think of an Elephant! (pages 46-51). Therefore one would assume that throughout this six page chapter what they will be enduring are different types of marital situations. Not only does this chapter discuss heterosexual marriage, but homosexual partnerships as well. In the definition of marriage given in this section, no where does it state that marriage needs to be between a man and a woman, nor does it say that it can not take place between a man and a man or a woman a woman. Therefore, why do so many people find homosexual relationships to be so wrong?

The book explains that many people relate marriage to sex, in turn; people do not favor gay sex. Many people find it repelling and disturbing. I on the other hand find fourteen year old girls having babies to be repulsive, but you do not hear of people trying to ban children from reproducing. What people do behind closed doors is their business. I mean in reality, a gay couple is in many ways doing the same thing that a fourteen year old girl is doing with her teenage boyfriend, but without the consequences. I just do not understand how it is ok for a child to bring a baby into the world that she can not support but two people who love each other are restricted from being together.

Even though contemporary conservatives state that to have a strict father family you must have a heterosexual marriage, I would have to say I disagree. I personally feel that many times within a homosexual couple one partner is more masculine, while the other is more feminine. Therefore I believe that one of the partners would be perfectly capable of taking on the strict father role.

My Next Point

This nonetheless brings me to my next set of thoughts: Nicholas LeMann’s article “The Word Lab.” Out of the three assigned articles, I found this one by far the most interesting. I know that having good etiquette and being able to speak in a positive manner in public plays a big part in a person’s campaign, but I never really thought that by just using words, which mean the same thing, could have such an impact. I did not realize that certain words such as “listening” and “children” would attract certain types of voters.

It really makes me wonder if all Republican’s carry around Frank Luntz’s “Right Words” pamphlet in their back pocket, while having a copy of “A conversation with America 2000” sitting on their desks. If they do, it makes me question how many thoughts are actually their own, or are they just saying what it is the people want to hear?

With this, I reflect upon my first point, did someone suggest to George W. Bush that in his State of the Union address that he should not address gay marriage? He does not flat out say he is against it, he just kind of beats around the idea explaining what his idea of marriage should be. Did he take someone else’s thoughts on how to address the public and use them as his own?

The Persuaders

After reading all of the different articles, I had some thoughts on the movie The Persuaders and I realized that whether it is people fighting against gay marriage, or politics using words that an audience would favor, it is all persuasion. The movie goes into great detail about the company Acxiom. I found this to be the most intriguing part of the movie. Does this mean that people are sitting back and making ads directed towards gay men to try and change their feelings?

Advertising is all around. You can not walk down a street without seeing a bulletin for the latest hot product. Take the I-Pod for example, if someone makes mention of wanting a new MP3 Player my immediate reaction would be to tell them to get an I-Pod. Why? Because that is all I really know, I see the ads on television, or on billboards, or wherever else they are located. I never see advertisements for things like the Zune or any other type of music player.