Feminist Accuses English Language Of Being Sexist, Gets Brilliantly Schooled By Linguist
It started off with a premise that, to be fair, deserves discussion and scrutiny. A Tumblr user, who refers to herself as ‘Feminist Chewbacca’ wanted to discover the root causes of patriarchal domination in society, and turned to the English language to investigate the inherent sexism it allegedly contains.
In these days of fake news and agenda pushing however, it has never been more important to check your facts. This is where Feminist Chewbacca came unstuck. Reblogging a post she had found on Visual Poetry, she had probably not counted on being fact-checked by an actual linguist. Her poorly chosen examples were deconstructed one by one, until she began to look rather basic, and a bit silly.
A couple of things to note here. Firstly, by introducing her post with the words: “Men fabricated the idea that they are the default sex to compensate for their biological inferiority and general superfluousness,” Feminist Chewbacca sets a militant tone that isn’t going to endear her to many people, and she needs to have rock-solid arguments to respond to the inevitable attacks on her position.
Secondly, it is of course by no means clear that this ‘linguist’ is indeed qualified or not, and his facts also deserved to be checked. After some cursory research I can gather that while some claims hold water, others are open to argument themselves. There is certainly more to the issue, and Feminist Chewbacca is right to shine a light on it. She just went about it in the wrong way.
So what to take from this sordid affair? Well, I guess it’s easy to pass off someone else’s arguments as your own, but at least maybe check if they are factually correct first. Also, if you begin from an extremist position and with fighting words, expect people to fight back. If they come armed with facts and you are just regurgitating opinions that suit your political outlook, you are just asking to be made to look stupid.
Scroll down to check out how it unfolded below, and let us know what you think in the comments!
Tumblr user ‘Feminist Chewbacca’ picked up artwork that resonated with her beliefs, that sexism is rooted in language
Image credits: Richard Tipping
But this linguist wasn’t having it, and wrote a detailed and qualified response
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Share on FacebookFeminist perspectives do not postulate that men are biologically inferior.
Excellent schooling and very interesting information. It's funny that the Old French "femella" is current day's word for female in Catalan ("mascle" = male and "femella" = female).
Many male commenters have erroneously concluded that this clapback proves the patriarchy doesn't exist. The patriarchy is real--the clapback points out only that you shouldn't fabricate evidence to support your view.
Of course patriarchy exists! Unfortunately it's most dumb people who have the most b******t to say.
Load More Replies...Interesting. In my education classes we we never made fun of anyone. Perhaps this why I try to bolster peoples dignity when showing them a new perspective, while keeping my smugness over 'knowing things' in check. But, I could be wrong. Maybe I will try this much celebrated method of educating.
She's malicious, she get slack for being malicious. No need to show respect or care for someone who doesn't show it for anyone.
Load More Replies...It's 'regardless.' Irregardless isn't a word, FYI.
Load More Replies...The linguist might be correct, but can't we be more classy in making arguments? Why do we have to stoop to sounding superior? I love an argument that puts the facts out there without swearing. Of course, language changes over time and swearing is become commonplace and accepted, even among academicians, but I long for academic civility.
if a feminist can act superior with fake notions of language, why can't a reasonable person act superior with facts and evidence?
Load More Replies...Well done! I just wish to add that in Latin the word "persona", besides person (deriving as said from Etruscan phersu), also meant "mask". "Personam tragicam forte vulpes viderat; quam postquam huc illuc semel atque iterum verterat, 'O quanta species' inquit 'cerebrum non habet.'"... Gaio Giulio Fedro, a Roman writer and fabulist (20/15 b.C. ca. – 51 a.C. ca.) A give a very rough translation: Casually a fox found a theatrical mask. After having turned it over and over the fox observed: what a magnificent appearance indeed, but it has no brain... By the way.
I mean, the fact that the word "man" use to mean "human" - says something about how we view gender. We are socialized into understanding humans as men and women only as secondary, and of course this is reflected in how language has evolved. So no, languages are not in themselves sexist - but they are reflections of patriarchal structures that sees men and women differently. I recommend Simone de Beauvoirs groundbreaking feminist theory for those who want to learn more ;)
Feminist perspectives do not postulate that men are biologically inferior.
Excellent schooling and very interesting information. It's funny that the Old French "femella" is current day's word for female in Catalan ("mascle" = male and "femella" = female).
Many male commenters have erroneously concluded that this clapback proves the patriarchy doesn't exist. The patriarchy is real--the clapback points out only that you shouldn't fabricate evidence to support your view.
Of course patriarchy exists! Unfortunately it's most dumb people who have the most b******t to say.
Load More Replies...Interesting. In my education classes we we never made fun of anyone. Perhaps this why I try to bolster peoples dignity when showing them a new perspective, while keeping my smugness over 'knowing things' in check. But, I could be wrong. Maybe I will try this much celebrated method of educating.
She's malicious, she get slack for being malicious. No need to show respect or care for someone who doesn't show it for anyone.
Load More Replies...It's 'regardless.' Irregardless isn't a word, FYI.
Load More Replies...The linguist might be correct, but can't we be more classy in making arguments? Why do we have to stoop to sounding superior? I love an argument that puts the facts out there without swearing. Of course, language changes over time and swearing is become commonplace and accepted, even among academicians, but I long for academic civility.
if a feminist can act superior with fake notions of language, why can't a reasonable person act superior with facts and evidence?
Load More Replies...Well done! I just wish to add that in Latin the word "persona", besides person (deriving as said from Etruscan phersu), also meant "mask". "Personam tragicam forte vulpes viderat; quam postquam huc illuc semel atque iterum verterat, 'O quanta species' inquit 'cerebrum non habet.'"... Gaio Giulio Fedro, a Roman writer and fabulist (20/15 b.C. ca. – 51 a.C. ca.) A give a very rough translation: Casually a fox found a theatrical mask. After having turned it over and over the fox observed: what a magnificent appearance indeed, but it has no brain... By the way.
I mean, the fact that the word "man" use to mean "human" - says something about how we view gender. We are socialized into understanding humans as men and women only as secondary, and of course this is reflected in how language has evolved. So no, languages are not in themselves sexist - but they are reflections of patriarchal structures that sees men and women differently. I recommend Simone de Beauvoirs groundbreaking feminist theory for those who want to learn more ;)









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