The speech that I chose was Hillary Clinton's endorsement of Barack Obama. She gave it at the Democratic National Convention as a way of conceded defeat in becoming the Democratic nominee for President. I chose it because the speech had garnered some media attention for Clinton allegedly focusing more on herself and less on her support for Obama. I wanted to see if the accusations were true. The focus of this essay is how rhetorically effective was the speech, so some of the points I will be looking at is how effective the speech is at conveying her message and differences in perceptions. You can find a transcript of the speech and an included video here.
The main purpose of this speech is endorsement. Her introduction isn't so much about that, however. She focused about her commitment to getting nominated and included several heartfelt examples of people who either supported or voted for her. This is an interesting tactic, because while she clearly wanted the nomination, she's also showing that it wasn't just her, but also the people who wanted her to win the nomination. She's demonstrating that this wasn't an easy race. However, once she gets these examples out of the way, Clinton does begin to talk about Obama. She praises him, both for his accomplishments before the race, and for his competitiveness during the race for nomination.
After she mentions Obama, she starts to use a really effective method of bringing the supporters together - first person plural. She starts it by saying "the Democratic Party is a family", and afterwards constantly uses the word we. The effect of this word is that it connects her with the audience and with Obama. Instead of saying you or me, she's making the objectives that she states a mission for everybody. A useful tactic when trying to admit defeat gracefully and at the same time let the crowd relate to her, despite her past. It works, too. Her speech for the next few minutes is constantly interrupted by applause. The audience loves her, even if she did lose.
Hillary also uses repetition to great effect. One of her common phrases was "That's why we need to help elect Barack Obama our president." She would list an objective of the Democratic Party, then repeat the phrase, garnering applause each time. She compared and contrasted her and Obama as challenges to the common idea of who becomes a president. She asked the rhetorical questions "Could a woman really serve as commander-in-chief?" and "Could an African-American really be our president?"
The aforementioned critiques of her speech are seen from a somewhat superficial view. There is some change when analyzing more in depth. She mentions Obama, but the focus isn't about Obama, even when she talks about electing him, or endorsing him. Instead, her examples, her rhetoric focuses on her, whether it means she came in close, or that she was the woman who ran for nomination, it still focused on her ideas as to who the president should be.
One example is that "it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories". She makes no mention of a black candidate, focusing only on her own victories, portraying herself as the pioneer of presidential nominations, ignoring the fact that Obama himself is black and a minority. Why ignore Obama? Because she's resentful and sneaky. This isn't a bad speech by any stretch of the imagination. While the claimed theme is endorsing Obama, the actual focus is her resentment over losing, and in that respect she is achieving exactly that.
What's more interesting is that there will be a difference in how people will perceive this endorsement. The younger generation, inexperienced in the ways of vicious politics will see Clinton as a gracious loser, endorsing Obama as a candidate instead of becoming an independent nominee herself. However, those who have seen such speeches before will realize that Hillary is not focusing on Obama. The older generations have already seen similar cases and know how resentful losers can be. Granted, like all stereotypes this isn't entirely accurate. There will be plenty of younger people who are wholly aware of Clinton's underhanded tactics, as there will be plenty of older people who are taken in by her frozen smile charm.
In conclusion, Clinton gave a great speech. It accomplished the main objective of conceding defeat and endorsing Obama. It roused the crowd to a total of 50 applauses that interrupted her speech, including a final tremendous one at the end. She used repetition, lists, obscure touching examples, all effective tools of winning the hearts and minds of the people. It gave her the spotlight for one final day before she finally would have to give it over to Barack Obama.
It's Always About Her.
Hillary's endorsement of Obama was a farce of an endorsement speech, as it focused little on Obama, and more on her own struggle to gain nomination for the democratic candidate. This speech piqued my interest because it was attacked by the media for being a poor endorsement speech.
After having gone over the transcript and listened to it repeatedly, I'm inclined to agree with the media on this one. From the very beginning, she focuses on her own support. She lists several examples of people who voted for her. The key part of this beginning is that she focuses on the people who voted for -her-, not Obama. One of Hillary's favorite techniques is using the first person plural, as a means of including herself with her listeners.This is effective for bringing together the audience, and connecting with them. However, notably absent is any mention of Barack Obama whatsoever. Thus this inclusive pronoun is in reality exclusive. From the beginning her speech doesn't endorse Obama, it excludes him.
It wasn't until past 7 minutes into her speech that Clinton mentions Obama for the first time. The subject of this speech clearly isn't about endorsing Obama, it's about her struggle to become the nominee. I could equate this to Al Gore using An Inconvenient Truth as a way of mourning his loss in the presidential elections of 2000. Half the time, his talks aren't about global warming, but his ongoing struggle to be the savior of the world. I digress. After mentioning Obama, Clinton goes into a brief summary over his political career, and their brief competition for nomination. However, she soon falls back into the same technique as earlier, using an inclusive pronoun without mentioning Barack. She's including herself in the masses, while keeping Obama decidedly apart.
Don't get me wrong. She definitely endorses Obama in her speech. She even says "That is why we need to help elect Barack Obama our president" 4 times, as a way of saying that he will bring about all good things for the country. However, there's something suspicious about her statement. Obama is mentioned, but not as part of the pronoun, 'we'. Instead, Hillary is once again placing herself amongst the masses, while excluding Obama. She continues to exclude Obama, despite pledging her support, all her plural statements are about her and the voters, but not Obama.
It's at this point where she begins bringing in the fact that they are both minorities running for nomination. She mentions how "people everywhere asked the same questions. Could a woman really serve as commander-in-chief?" and "Could an African-American really be our president?" It was only a matter of time until this happened, because clearly this is such a historic moment in the entire world, despite there being female leaders in countries such as England, or even Chile, considered underdeveloped by the United States.
Additionally, she goes off on a tangent about "what it means to be a woman running for president", despite the fact that she wasn't running for president, but for nomination. It almost looks like Clinton took portions from her now redundant acceptance speech and simply padded it onto her endorsement speech. She talks about how "it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories". Notably absent is any mention about how Obama makes it unremarkable for a black man to run for presidency either. "Unremarkable to think a woman can be the president of the United States", but apparently still remarkable for a black man to win the nomination for democratic candidate. Clinton's not endorsing Obama, she's patting herself on the back for a good race.
Perhaps one of the most annoying characteristics of this speech is the vague, feel good examples of people who Clinton was fighting for, "the single mom", "the woman", "the young man", nothing identifying. The effect of this is that it makes them easier to relate to, but at the cost of making them superfluous and immaterial. There's no way these people could be proved to exist. I will admit, she gives some concrete examples of supporters earlier, but her later use of the less specific examples undermines her credibility with vagueness and feel-good attitude.
In conclusion, Hillary's endorsement speech is not really about Obama, it's about herself. It's about her struggle to become the democratic nominee and subsequent failure, despite all her support from such people as a 13-year-old named Anne Riddell. She uses quite effective rhetoric for a speech, and it's not a bad speech in the least, it just doesn't fulfill the purpose of endorsing Obama. Which begs the question of what is her intention with this speech in the first place? Is it to endorse Obama, or is it to show all the good things she's supposedly done for the Democrats? Feel free to post your thoughts.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Why No I'm Not from Around Here... How Could You Tell?
It seems to me that at least three quarters of everyone I've met at Chapman thus far have been from California. The Golden State. Cali. If you don't know California, you'd better start learning fast.
The parties here don't get busted. They get "rolled." They didn't just have a few people over. It was a "kick-back." Ask someone how some party was? It was gnarly and they are stoked for the next one. Make sure you take "the" 55 if you are headed to the beach, not just 55. And for the record, this is NOT the OC. It's just Orange County. Not to mention it's "BOMB."
These are just a few terms I've come to expect in the short time I've been at Chapman. It may have been my puzzles map or maybe looking clearly clueless over where I as going the first two weeks that pinpointed me as a lost freshman and thank God we've left the blue wristbands of shame behind when orientation ended. As a whole the freshman class sticks out, and apparently I can be pinpointed as from somewhere else fairly easily.
Am I from around here? What do you think. I'm from a place where you can get a glass of "wudder" with your "hoagie." Where everyone drops the f-bomb in every other sentence, especially when stuck in traffic on I-76 on the way to the birds game. (Speaking of... GO EAGLES!) Road rage always brings out our classiest language. Getting a cheesesteak from Pat's or Gino's? You best get it with "wiz." "Yo" is how we greet everyone. No exceptions.
Where is this magical place I hail from? Philly. Not Philadelphia, just Philly.Our language is different in the city of brotherly love. I wasn't aware of just how different it is till I arrived here. I sound different? Everyone sounds different. I've learned how to pinpoint where others are from based on how they speak. Everyone's always known the thick accents like Boston or Long Island, but it's a craft to recognize the more subtle accents from everywhere across the country. Why wouldn't everyone flock from all over to Orange County? Afterall, It's bomb.
From Seattle or Portland? It's not "hawt" out here. It's hot. From Minnesoooooda? It's Minnesota. Norcal born and bred? Well you've got no hope. I don't even know how to begin to explain "hella."
We've all scrambled here somehow and finally met people from all over. I wouldn't say language "oppression" is apparent, more just casual social labeling. Oppression is way too harsh of a word. This is Orange County. It's chill. Yes we can tell where people are from, but its not like we hold it against them. Plus that usually just falls into the same conversation we've all had over and over. "Oh you're from so-and-so? What's your major? What dorm are you in?" I think we've all progressed past thank point now.
We all took a little bit of where we're from with us here. We aren't "oppressed" because of it. It'll stick with us always even if our accents fade slightly out into the gnarliness that is SoCal language. So what advice do I have to give? Learn what other people are about, but don't lose touch of your roots. Take pride in where you come from. You were smart enough to find Chapman, you might as well throw your hometown some credit.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Overly Sensitive People
People can take language to seriously. Words obviously have different meanings to different people so then why do people make such a big deal over what is politically correct or offensive. As long as people are not being openly hateful and saying derogatory remarks to whom they are talking about its not wrong right? Maybe it might be a little insensitive and make people desensitized to racism and bigotry, and just be ignoring hate presently in front of you. So why make a big deal out of it?
Some people are overly sensitive and think that certain words should never be used and are very offensive. These people obviously don’t have many friends and don’t know that it’s ok to say “that’s gay” or “your retarded” or “Jesus Christ” because it’s all in good fun.
How can these words be negative if no one in the group finds it offensive? As long as no one hears the oppressive comment it’s not degrading right? It’s not like continuously using these slanderous remarks is making us more and more desensitized to the words. I mean why should a straight person find the saying “that’s so gay” offensive. People don’t actually believe or think that their jokes between friends are actually going to have an impact on the way we think and feel about other people. So this brings up the question of why are these sayings or words thought of as negative and what gives them power.
Ignorant people give words these evil powers. These people go around throwing out words that make no sense in situations giving words meanings that they never previously had. Does it really make sense to call an inanimate object gay or retarded? Sometimes people decide to substitute words such as stupid or difficult with gay giving it new meaning. Some people also make up new words such as "Hella" which means "A great quantity of" and is not offensive in anyway but does not make a lot of sense.
It is bad to be openly hateful to groups of people based color of skin, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation but it is equally harmful to be blindly degrading other people. Friends provide a kind of sheltered environment for us where everyone feels comfortable and does not realize that what our friends believe and say effect what we think and say internally.
Coming from a predominantly white catholic high school I personally do not know much about racial or sexual bigotry. None of my friends throughout my life I can say have been openly racist and hated a particular group of individuals but some had a bad closet case of bias towards others. Most of these biases came from parents, teachers, or role model.
The way people talk, especially people who we respect and look up to, might have an effect on our views and beliefs. If someone is surrounded by negativity and hate it will eventually make some impact on them. So then people should blame their friends and family for their intolerance because they influenced them so they are responsible. Or maybe people should think for themselves and speak what they believe.
It is commonly said that if you do not speak up when something wrong is happening you are just as responsible as the person committing the harmful act. So if one of your friends says to you, "look at that lump of lard of there he must have tried that 30 day McDonalds Diet", are you being just as hateful if you do not say anything about it? No not really unless they laughed then you might be more guilty than him.
Nothing will change if no one says anything though and laughing only encourages the hateful jokes and makes them stronger. So everyone is responsible for themselves and needs to think about what they are doing and who the environment they put themselves in. If you hang out with KKK members on the weekend don’t blame them for turning you into scum and just stereotyping everyone you see. Hell you will probably end up hating yourself.
It’s not the end of the world to say a few jokes people are not going to turn into terribly hateful people over a joke. It is a problem when people take jokes too far or continually makes jokes all the time then the jokes truly becomes hateful and degrading. So be careful and don’t let the people around you have a negative effect on you and make you ignorant to how words should be used because “that would be gay”.
Honestly though there are too many closet case biased people who do not realize that they are a part of the problem. Not a whole lot will get done if people just sit back and say nothing or even worse if you laugh! People need to know that words can be just as harmful as action and create negative stereotypes that change people’s views.
So say something about it so that all the sensitive people in the world who get all upset about not being politically correct will shut up and maybe even make the world a more tolerable place to live for everyone.
Some people are overly sensitive and think that certain words should never be used and are very offensive. These people obviously don’t have many friends and don’t know that it’s ok to say “that’s gay” or “your retarded” or “Jesus Christ” because it’s all in good fun.
How can these words be negative if no one in the group finds it offensive? As long as no one hears the oppressive comment it’s not degrading right? It’s not like continuously using these slanderous remarks is making us more and more desensitized to the words. I mean why should a straight person find the saying “that’s so gay” offensive. People don’t actually believe or think that their jokes between friends are actually going to have an impact on the way we think and feel about other people. So this brings up the question of why are these sayings or words thought of as negative and what gives them power.
Ignorant people give words these evil powers. These people go around throwing out words that make no sense in situations giving words meanings that they never previously had. Does it really make sense to call an inanimate object gay or retarded? Sometimes people decide to substitute words such as stupid or difficult with gay giving it new meaning. Some people also make up new words such as "Hella" which means "A great quantity of" and is not offensive in anyway but does not make a lot of sense.
It is bad to be openly hateful to groups of people based color of skin, sexual orientation, or religious affiliation but it is equally harmful to be blindly degrading other people. Friends provide a kind of sheltered environment for us where everyone feels comfortable and does not realize that what our friends believe and say effect what we think and say internally.
Coming from a predominantly white catholic high school I personally do not know much about racial or sexual bigotry. None of my friends throughout my life I can say have been openly racist and hated a particular group of individuals but some had a bad closet case of bias towards others. Most of these biases came from parents, teachers, or role model.
The way people talk, especially people who we respect and look up to, might have an effect on our views and beliefs. If someone is surrounded by negativity and hate it will eventually make some impact on them. So then people should blame their friends and family for their intolerance because they influenced them so they are responsible. Or maybe people should think for themselves and speak what they believe.
It is commonly said that if you do not speak up when something wrong is happening you are just as responsible as the person committing the harmful act. So if one of your friends says to you, "look at that lump of lard of there he must have tried that 30 day McDonalds Diet", are you being just as hateful if you do not say anything about it? No not really unless they laughed then you might be more guilty than him.
Nothing will change if no one says anything though and laughing only encourages the hateful jokes and makes them stronger. So everyone is responsible for themselves and needs to think about what they are doing and who the environment they put themselves in. If you hang out with KKK members on the weekend don’t blame them for turning you into scum and just stereotyping everyone you see. Hell you will probably end up hating yourself.
It’s not the end of the world to say a few jokes people are not going to turn into terribly hateful people over a joke. It is a problem when people take jokes too far or continually makes jokes all the time then the jokes truly becomes hateful and degrading. So be careful and don’t let the people around you have a negative effect on you and make you ignorant to how words should be used because “that would be gay”.
Honestly though there are too many closet case biased people who do not realize that they are a part of the problem. Not a whole lot will get done if people just sit back and say nothing or even worse if you laugh! People need to know that words can be just as harmful as action and create negative stereotypes that change people’s views.
So say something about it so that all the sensitive people in the world who get all upset about not being politically correct will shut up and maybe even make the world a more tolerable place to live for everyone.
God, I hate Mormonism.
I’d like to thank language for the demise of my soul, thank you. It has been greatly misused in my life, mostly in a religious context but also with so-called family. For 18 years I was a shell of human being oppressed by the use of language.
I was raised in the Church of Latter-day Saints of Jesus Christ, more commonly known as Mormonism by innocent heathens. Language is used to create similar thoughts and feelings between members through studying the Book of Mormon and prophets talks. Joining the collective is one of the main reasons to convert.
The “Mormon language” is one in which you simply think good thoughts, believe in all the prophets have written in the Book of Moron, abstain from expressing negative emotions, and refrain from questioning religious leaders and texts. It is devoid of probing questions about the church’s past and use of money.
When I spoke I was told not use swear words, to express bad feelings, or hurtful thoughts. In this way, I was meant to communicate happiness all the time. To be unhappy is a sin; it means you are not thankful for what you have been given by the Lord. After being raised this way for such a long period, I feel as if I wasn’t given very much.
To keep my thoughts and language pure I was also told to keep away from R rated films, sexual television shows, crude song lyrics, and adult books. The Word of Wisdom, a “revelation” from the Book of Mormon, also says to avoid coffee, to eat meat sparingly, not to drink or smoke, and to use herbs medicinally. On top of this add the 10 commandments and there is the basic structure of living and thinking to reach Kolob.
Mormons argue that following all these commandments contribute to a healthy body and sound psyche. Granted, it is a healthy life-style, but after extracting myself from Mormon beliefs and society I realized how suppressed I had been. All that time I was deeply disappointed with myself because I could never be perfect. Regardless of how often I read the Book of Moron, prayed, and listened to religious figures I never felt closer to God.
There is a feeling called “a burning in the bosom” which supposedly confirms the truth of everything written in the Book of Moron. I never felt it, and therefore could never have a true testimony. Church leaders told me to rely on my parents feelings and to continue wasting hours of my time reading the Book of Moron.
Asides from being secretly depressed about my lack of burning bosom I felt evil when I wanted to do something “immoral”, like saying a crude word or lashing out at someone. Being nice is fabulous and all, but I feel dark and angry emotions as well. I see no need to repress these, why should I hide hatred or jealousy? Ignoring and smoothing over strong desires has led to me becoming an overly blunt, rebellious, and self-destructive being who couldn’t give a damn.
In my family life language has served a destructive force as well. The Mormon façade of happiness definitely played a role in this. There were many negative feelings between the parents, sister, and me. The parents never spoke about what bothered them, they kept it inside till something insignificant led to an emotional outburst that had nothing to do with the ulcer they were nursing. As children we emulated them, except our outbursts were more frequent and laughable.
The only social circle where language hasn’t oppressed my thoughts or feelings has been with my closest friends. We have never had to hide feelings of jealousy or annoyance. Generally we were all very supportive of each other with our verbal and body language, and tried to understand one another’s true emotions.
Although language itself has been an oppressive force when trying to communicate with my friends, as there are times when you feel the deep urge to share your feelings, but can’t find any words. Even if you can find the words, how do you know the other person understands? I can’t look into someone’s mind and see if they truly emulate or even care. What if half of the time you shared an important feeling or experience, the person listening is simply wondering when are you going to stop babbling about your petty misfortunes?
While language is an incredible tool for communication between human beings, it has left me feeling empty at times. It’s also led to a deep and abiding hatred of most religions’ texts and speeches. I can’t help but feel it’s better used as a means to control people than to express yourself, although that could just be my angry ex-Mormon speaking.
I was raised in the Church of Latter-day Saints of Jesus Christ, more commonly known as Mormonism by innocent heathens. Language is used to create similar thoughts and feelings between members through studying the Book of Mormon and prophets talks. Joining the collective is one of the main reasons to convert.
The “Mormon language” is one in which you simply think good thoughts, believe in all the prophets have written in the Book of Moron, abstain from expressing negative emotions, and refrain from questioning religious leaders and texts. It is devoid of probing questions about the church’s past and use of money.
When I spoke I was told not use swear words, to express bad feelings, or hurtful thoughts. In this way, I was meant to communicate happiness all the time. To be unhappy is a sin; it means you are not thankful for what you have been given by the Lord. After being raised this way for such a long period, I feel as if I wasn’t given very much.
To keep my thoughts and language pure I was also told to keep away from R rated films, sexual television shows, crude song lyrics, and adult books. The Word of Wisdom, a “revelation” from the Book of Mormon, also says to avoid coffee, to eat meat sparingly, not to drink or smoke, and to use herbs medicinally. On top of this add the 10 commandments and there is the basic structure of living and thinking to reach Kolob.
Mormons argue that following all these commandments contribute to a healthy body and sound psyche. Granted, it is a healthy life-style, but after extracting myself from Mormon beliefs and society I realized how suppressed I had been. All that time I was deeply disappointed with myself because I could never be perfect. Regardless of how often I read the Book of Moron, prayed, and listened to religious figures I never felt closer to God.
There is a feeling called “a burning in the bosom” which supposedly confirms the truth of everything written in the Book of Moron. I never felt it, and therefore could never have a true testimony. Church leaders told me to rely on my parents feelings and to continue wasting hours of my time reading the Book of Moron.
Asides from being secretly depressed about my lack of burning bosom I felt evil when I wanted to do something “immoral”, like saying a crude word or lashing out at someone. Being nice is fabulous and all, but I feel dark and angry emotions as well. I see no need to repress these, why should I hide hatred or jealousy? Ignoring and smoothing over strong desires has led to me becoming an overly blunt, rebellious, and self-destructive being who couldn’t give a damn.
In my family life language has served a destructive force as well. The Mormon façade of happiness definitely played a role in this. There were many negative feelings between the parents, sister, and me. The parents never spoke about what bothered them, they kept it inside till something insignificant led to an emotional outburst that had nothing to do with the ulcer they were nursing. As children we emulated them, except our outbursts were more frequent and laughable.
The only social circle where language hasn’t oppressed my thoughts or feelings has been with my closest friends. We have never had to hide feelings of jealousy or annoyance. Generally we were all very supportive of each other with our verbal and body language, and tried to understand one another’s true emotions.
Although language itself has been an oppressive force when trying to communicate with my friends, as there are times when you feel the deep urge to share your feelings, but can’t find any words. Even if you can find the words, how do you know the other person understands? I can’t look into someone’s mind and see if they truly emulate or even care. What if half of the time you shared an important feeling or experience, the person listening is simply wondering when are you going to stop babbling about your petty misfortunes?
While language is an incredible tool for communication between human beings, it has left me feeling empty at times. It’s also led to a deep and abiding hatred of most religions’ texts and speeches. I can’t help but feel it’s better used as a means to control people than to express yourself, although that could just be my angry ex-Mormon speaking.
What the "Hizzle" does that mean?
what the "Hizzle" does that mean?
Each year the English language extends , making every new exciting slang word more acceptable to say. The English language is not only becoming more "ignorant" but it is also oppressing the generation learning it. I don't know about you but I'm tired of old people coming up to me asking me "how's it hanging" and "what's crackin' brotha?" as if every young adult is going to respond with "Iz all good playa!, just keeping it real". We as people need to be smarter than the stereo-type that says all young kid's speak in this manner, because frankly its bull shit. No one's branching into deeper conversation and expanding there vocabulary because today's language doesn't call for it. All tough question's can now be answered in one phrase "shit.....iono".
As a young black writer it would be easy for me to just speak about the effects of the "N-word" but in reality the "N-word" hasn't done shit to me. What has effected me, the way i talk, and the inner circle that surrounds me is the media and there portrayal on how we should act.
I've seen the movies with the black kid's from the hood who break dance, the black kid's who rap to get out the ghetto, and the black kids who play basketball, but....that's all i saw. Slowly i watched the dialogue from that movie become the text book that taught my friends how to talk. Soon quotes from the movie's became sayings for everyday talk and i sat there and said to my self, "Is this how a act black?".
Today's media tells all of us how to speak and carry ourselves during conversation. I find it funny sometimes when I hear "valley girls" say phrases like "totally" and "O.M.G." because although they know there saying it they continue, because in there mind this is what you say to express there emotions. This doesn't just limit itself to one type of people or one type of age group, race, or religion, this bull shit effect all of us. Ultimately it holds us back from ever moving forward. In 10 years we will be teaching or kids how to speak proper English with phrases like "why you hating" and "I aint got no-mo"
To a certain extent this new language called slang expresses who we are as a generation but it holds us back when we don't know how to break away from it. So if your 8 year old little sister comes up to you and say's, "aye bitch, what up wit' dem milk and cookies for dinner?" just thank great media outlets like MTV, BET, VH1, and today's Webster's dictionary.
The Universal Greeting
I don’t know if maybe it is a just a California greeting but, “Hey, what’s up?” is how, in my fabulous social circle, we greet each other. Now let me give you a heads up if you’re reading this and think the proper reply to this greeting would not be another greeting but instead, an actual reply of what is really up in your life, you are the person that needs to continue reading this.
You see, in my hometown, in the southern California city of Newport Beach, “Hey, what’s up?” or, “hey, how are you?” and “Hi” or “Hello”, are all interchangeable and serve as what some may call “formal” greetings. In Newport for example, if I were to ask, “Hey, what’s up” it would be likely that the response would be something along the lines of “Nothing really. That shirt you are wearing is fabulous. Where did you get it?” And then of course the conversation would make its way back to me. How anyone could see Hello, Good Morning or even Hey what’s up as anything but proper and formal greetings is something totally bizarre… at least in Newport.
So, of course now I must tell you one of the more horrific stories of my college encounters. Going off to college was something that I believed would be a rewarding and exciting experience, but trust me, meeting people from places like Connecticut and Chicago is terrifying. It’s like they’re from other planets; like really, they could not understand a word that passed my lips! It was just loathsome when I went to greet people and instead of the standard hello and of course the sincere compliment about my new shoes and/or skirt that I usually received in Newport, it was like freaking “Cave Man.” I quote, wait, no scratch that, I won’t force the same painfully pathetic life story on you. I was appalled to say the least.
Get this, during the second week of school, I saw this girl who, yes, I knew, and yes, was nice, and yes, at the time I considered allowing her to call me her friend, but unfortunately what she said to me that fateful morning has forever changed my opinion about her.
We were in the hall and of course, being the social, nice person that I am, I walked up to her and say the normal, universal greeting, “Hey, what’s up?” and to my disgust she not only neglected to say hi back, she started talking about herself! Crazy, right? So, she starts off by telling me she is extremely exhausted because she had been up until two o’clock in the morning talking to her boyfriend on the phone, and then she starts crying and tells me that he ended up breaking up with her and blah, blah, blah right. I honestly cannot even remember anything after that because I was just so hurt. I just kept thinking, how dare she overlook my new stilettos, and finally, when her torrential downpour of tears had waned down to a slight trickle I decided I should inform her of the ghastly, disgusting, and downright Neanderthal mistake she had made by quite literally telling me what in fact was up. So I took her aside and kindly educated her about what I really intended when I addressed her.
Of course, like all the others, when I tried to help her, she was offended, I still have no idea why, and thus, she made the situation that much more awkward. I mean, it’s hard for me to tell people they have messed up and it’s even harder for me to feel like the bad guy, but how else would she learn? It was traumatizing for the poor girl, but I did my best to console her and make it plain that she should not commit the same error a second time. I think she understood because ever since that encounter she has said absolutely nothing about her personal life.
It was just a horrible experience to have to continuously educate people on the proper meaning of my humble salutation, that I almost stopped saying it all together. Luckily, I’m not someone to conform to the needs of others so, despite my new already high stress level s entering college and steadily being put on my peer’s hit lists, I decided to tell the world what I mean in one simple essay. Now you see my use of language which, though obviously not known to the visitors of California, is not that confusing. But, seeing that so many people just do not seem to comprehend our salutations I knew it would be prudent to blog about it and inform all of the less educated people about what, “Hey, what’s up?” really means. If you haven’t paid attention, please refer to the above, where I’ve discussed the obvious DO’S and DON’TS concerning “Hey, what’s up”
Finally, I do not have any idea why, but some people are just too literal. When does a word actually genuinely mean what it is supposed to mean these days. The world of literal language is coming to an end my friends and I think that it is in everyone’s best interest to accept this knowledge and learn how to actually communicate in this day and age. Of course, the elderly are simply much too conditioned in the “old language” as I like to call it, to be taught how utterly unacceptable their archaic English has become.
There’s a sale on at Bloomies so I’ll just say this one last time, our generation and the generations to come all must know and accept the simple idea that language is not what it used to be, and learn “What’s up.”
You see, in my hometown, in the southern California city of Newport Beach, “Hey, what’s up?” or, “hey, how are you?” and “Hi” or “Hello”, are all interchangeable and serve as what some may call “formal” greetings. In Newport for example, if I were to ask, “Hey, what’s up” it would be likely that the response would be something along the lines of “Nothing really. That shirt you are wearing is fabulous. Where did you get it?” And then of course the conversation would make its way back to me. How anyone could see Hello, Good Morning or even Hey what’s up as anything but proper and formal greetings is something totally bizarre… at least in Newport.
So, of course now I must tell you one of the more horrific stories of my college encounters. Going off to college was something that I believed would be a rewarding and exciting experience, but trust me, meeting people from places like Connecticut and Chicago is terrifying. It’s like they’re from other planets; like really, they could not understand a word that passed my lips! It was just loathsome when I went to greet people and instead of the standard hello and of course the sincere compliment about my new shoes and/or skirt that I usually received in Newport, it was like freaking “Cave Man.” I quote, wait, no scratch that, I won’t force the same painfully pathetic life story on you. I was appalled to say the least.
Get this, during the second week of school, I saw this girl who, yes, I knew, and yes, was nice, and yes, at the time I considered allowing her to call me her friend, but unfortunately what she said to me that fateful morning has forever changed my opinion about her.
We were in the hall and of course, being the social, nice person that I am, I walked up to her and say the normal, universal greeting, “Hey, what’s up?” and to my disgust she not only neglected to say hi back, she started talking about herself! Crazy, right? So, she starts off by telling me she is extremely exhausted because she had been up until two o’clock in the morning talking to her boyfriend on the phone, and then she starts crying and tells me that he ended up breaking up with her and blah, blah, blah right. I honestly cannot even remember anything after that because I was just so hurt. I just kept thinking, how dare she overlook my new stilettos, and finally, when her torrential downpour of tears had waned down to a slight trickle I decided I should inform her of the ghastly, disgusting, and downright Neanderthal mistake she had made by quite literally telling me what in fact was up. So I took her aside and kindly educated her about what I really intended when I addressed her.
Of course, like all the others, when I tried to help her, she was offended, I still have no idea why, and thus, she made the situation that much more awkward. I mean, it’s hard for me to tell people they have messed up and it’s even harder for me to feel like the bad guy, but how else would she learn? It was traumatizing for the poor girl, but I did my best to console her and make it plain that she should not commit the same error a second time. I think she understood because ever since that encounter she has said absolutely nothing about her personal life.
It was just a horrible experience to have to continuously educate people on the proper meaning of my humble salutation, that I almost stopped saying it all together. Luckily, I’m not someone to conform to the needs of others so, despite my new already high stress level s entering college and steadily being put on my peer’s hit lists, I decided to tell the world what I mean in one simple essay. Now you see my use of language which, though obviously not known to the visitors of California, is not that confusing. But, seeing that so many people just do not seem to comprehend our salutations I knew it would be prudent to blog about it and inform all of the less educated people about what, “Hey, what’s up?” really means. If you haven’t paid attention, please refer to the above, where I’ve discussed the obvious DO’S and DON’TS concerning “Hey, what’s up”
Finally, I do not have any idea why, but some people are just too literal. When does a word actually genuinely mean what it is supposed to mean these days. The world of literal language is coming to an end my friends and I think that it is in everyone’s best interest to accept this knowledge and learn how to actually communicate in this day and age. Of course, the elderly are simply much too conditioned in the “old language” as I like to call it, to be taught how utterly unacceptable their archaic English has become.
There’s a sale on at Bloomies so I’ll just say this one last time, our generation and the generations to come all must know and accept the simple idea that language is not what it used to be, and learn “What’s up.”
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Language plays very little if at all of an oppressive role in my social circles. Language is just a means of communication and it does not have the ability to oppress unless you give it the power to. Fuck. Did you pause on that word or did you continue reading without a break. If you paused, why? Do you have a mental reaction to that word? Does it piss you off? Why spend any more time on that word than the others, after all its pretty short so it can’t hold much meaning. You can let words like that affect you or “oppress” you but in actuality they have no power.
The only thing that language oppresses is the rate of communication. That is why we use words that have more feeling than meaning like fuck and shit, because the connotation expresses things that we could not express in a concise matter otherwise.
If words can oppress your actions then you should reconsider the weight you put in non-tangible things. If you were standing next to a man and he began to bombard you with imaginary rocks and weapons would you ignore it, find it humorous, or fall prey to his imaginary assault. This is the extent to which words can be oppressive. You will definitely take notice of the word’s presence and understand their meaning, but whether they effect you is up to none other than yourself.
Have dictators oppressed their countries with language, no. Imagine if Stalin’s regime used words instead of killing everyone he thought would betray him. Does a threat have meaning if it is not thought possible? Language is in reality a tool that can bring much more freedom than it can oppress. That’s why dictators have felt that if they could control the language their people use, they could control their people more effectively. That is why they burnt books, banned words, and forbidden the communication of certain ideas. Because language is much more liberating than it is oppressive.
Can language be oppressive though? Yes it can. If you do not have a mastery of it you cannot communicate what is going on in your mind. This is evident when many people write essays. They cannot wield language successfully to convey their thoughts and ideas so they come off as morons.
Even people who have a mastery of language are oppressed by it. They rate at which thought travels and the rate at which humans can communicate will never come close unless we devise a form of telepathy. Even then our thoughts will take too long to decipher to communicate them fast enough.
All the taboo words are used often in my social circles. They do not oppress, they have more meaning than other words because of the weight given to them by most of society. We can say one word and by the tone of our voice our fellow language users will know exactly what we mean.
The words that oppress certain people can be used by others to liberate their thoughts more. It just depends on how you look at them.
Another person who can fall prey to the oppressiveness of language is someone who is not entirely familiar with the language they are speaking. Whether it is a little one or a foreigner, they will have a hard time explaining themselves sufficiently to be accepted by the other in the social circles they partake in.
Anyways language is only oppressive as you let it be, as of now it is the best method of communicating. But if you want to communicate faster you could always practice to be like this guy.
Don't take it Personal...
Language as hurtful and tasteless as it can be has actually had an UNoppressive role in my social circles. Don’t get me wrong, in my social circles terms are used that can be construed as crude and hurtful, but our group has a firm understanding that we’re not trying to hurt each other. We just joke around and understand that the language we use isn’t meant to cause harm. That being said there are still social circles in today’s society that do use oppressive language as a form of power or even just for their own sheer enjoyment. These are the despicable people that make modern society tense and very much like a mine field, were one wrong step and like a domino effect everything just blows.
While inside the social circle language causes very little tension, the circle always seem to have a type of filter that when speaking to someone who may take words or statements personally, understands to avoid potentially oppressive languages and tones. Inside the group though it’s absurd when someone has their feelings hurt because of something somebody says but, who can blame them? The ridiculous amount of tension and angst provided by society and the media concerning touchy subjects such as race, gender and social class make it nearly impossible to avoid touchy situations.
Also, language hasn’t played an oppressive role in my social circles because no one in the circle associates with people who try to physically, emotionally, or mentally breakdown people by using harmful words about sensitive subjects, like the ones mentioned above. Those people who find joy in breaking down others and watching other suffer are classless and compulsive. To think that amount of damage one can do to another human being by just simply throwing around lewd terms is unbelievable. Just a few words can cause great damage and even possible cause one to take their own life.
Sometimes language can even be oppressive to loved ones. For example, a young boy struggling in school gets yelled at by his father for not keeping up with his classmates, the father calls his son “stupid” and “mindless”. Two simple words that seem relatively harmless tear this boy down emotionally and may even scar him for life. Another is one that I have personally witnessed. As a little kid I played little league baseball, which was pretty common amongst young boys our age, and one year at the triple A level, one of my team mates would always get talked down to by his uncle when he let down the team. The uncle would say things like “how can u drop that fly ball? You’re letting down your team!” Keep in mind the triple A level of little league isn’t even the top division, at the time we were only young boys of age eleven and twelve just playing a game we love and trying to have fun. That one boy’s uncle took that pleasure away from his nephew, the boy never got to just be free and have fun, he always had to deal with the repercussions from his uncle if he were to strikeout or make a bad throw. These heartless people are what make even common language hurtful.
This is not the “oppressive” language that is used in my social circles. In my circles it’s more of the teasing kind. Joking around about a problem or issue that someone has or just poking fun at each other. I feel the language we use is unoppressive because of the meaning behind it. For example, if someone were to do something dumb that some of the people found humorous, they might call him or her a “retard” but, the person being called the name understands that it’s all in good fun and sometimes even come up with a come back of their own to counteract the statement.
Universally, language within cliques is fairly harmless. It becomes an issue rather when cliques with conflicting views or social styles mix and something that was once not an issue becomes one when used to the wrong person. We make our own language seem as we want it by the way we use our tones and the desired effect we look for when we say it.
Lastly, I am glad to be in social circles were the language comes of as harmless and playful, rather then being seen as crude and wicked. This firm understanding of understanding the limits one has in the circle makes it easier for everyone to avoid getting hurt. It’s when one doesn’t have the filter and uses language to breakdown other that is simply despicable in society. The heartlessness one must have is quite unimaginable. This is life though, there will always be a level disgust that words can provide when used in derogatory ways. The only thing one can do is check themselves and make sure they are doing correct and hopefully other will follow.
While inside the social circle language causes very little tension, the circle always seem to have a type of filter that when speaking to someone who may take words or statements personally, understands to avoid potentially oppressive languages and tones. Inside the group though it’s absurd when someone has their feelings hurt because of something somebody says but, who can blame them? The ridiculous amount of tension and angst provided by society and the media concerning touchy subjects such as race, gender and social class make it nearly impossible to avoid touchy situations.
Also, language hasn’t played an oppressive role in my social circles because no one in the circle associates with people who try to physically, emotionally, or mentally breakdown people by using harmful words about sensitive subjects, like the ones mentioned above. Those people who find joy in breaking down others and watching other suffer are classless and compulsive. To think that amount of damage one can do to another human being by just simply throwing around lewd terms is unbelievable. Just a few words can cause great damage and even possible cause one to take their own life.
Sometimes language can even be oppressive to loved ones. For example, a young boy struggling in school gets yelled at by his father for not keeping up with his classmates, the father calls his son “stupid” and “mindless”. Two simple words that seem relatively harmless tear this boy down emotionally and may even scar him for life. Another is one that I have personally witnessed. As a little kid I played little league baseball, which was pretty common amongst young boys our age, and one year at the triple A level, one of my team mates would always get talked down to by his uncle when he let down the team. The uncle would say things like “how can u drop that fly ball? You’re letting down your team!” Keep in mind the triple A level of little league isn’t even the top division, at the time we were only young boys of age eleven and twelve just playing a game we love and trying to have fun. That one boy’s uncle took that pleasure away from his nephew, the boy never got to just be free and have fun, he always had to deal with the repercussions from his uncle if he were to strikeout or make a bad throw. These heartless people are what make even common language hurtful.
This is not the “oppressive” language that is used in my social circles. In my circles it’s more of the teasing kind. Joking around about a problem or issue that someone has or just poking fun at each other. I feel the language we use is unoppressive because of the meaning behind it. For example, if someone were to do something dumb that some of the people found humorous, they might call him or her a “retard” but, the person being called the name understands that it’s all in good fun and sometimes even come up with a come back of their own to counteract the statement.
Universally, language within cliques is fairly harmless. It becomes an issue rather when cliques with conflicting views or social styles mix and something that was once not an issue becomes one when used to the wrong person. We make our own language seem as we want it by the way we use our tones and the desired effect we look for when we say it.
Lastly, I am glad to be in social circles were the language comes of as harmless and playful, rather then being seen as crude and wicked. This firm understanding of understanding the limits one has in the circle makes it easier for everyone to avoid getting hurt. It’s when one doesn’t have the filter and uses language to breakdown other that is simply despicable in society. The heartlessness one must have is quite unimaginable. This is life though, there will always be a level disgust that words can provide when used in derogatory ways. The only thing one can do is check themselves and make sure they are doing correct and hopefully other will follow.
How to Gain The Trust of The Rich and Powerful
Edit: I confess, I completely missed the voice part of the essay when I was writing this. Therefore, I am editing my post ever so slightly to include the voice.
I know that Fox wanted us to talk about how language oppressed our social lives because of words used that could be harmful. I'm not going to write about that. There's very little language that offends me. All those so-called insulting terms, they're just words. What really oppressed my social circle, and this is what I thought when Fox first said language, was different spoken language, i.e. Spanish versus English. Why? Because it affected my life throughout high school, that's why. Where I hung out, who I hung out with, and when I would go out to just hang.
The first and most significant social circle was my school. I went to a school that, while British and equipped with a British faculty, had a largely Peruvian student body. Problem was, while I had grown up in Honduras, I had forgotten most of my Spanish. I could communicate enough to survive, but I couldn't socialise. This didn't go over well with my classmates, the School People. They had no interest in interacting with somebody that couldn't understand them. As a result, I was an outcast. I never heard about parties, people would ignore me when I needed help, nobody listened when I had something to say. You could say that I wasn't in the social circle. That's how bad the oppression was. I didn't even exist!
But there were other places as well. One of them was my church. I was heavily involved in the social projects that the church had, mostly because of my father. He was their priest. This meant I had to play the model child, and smile and dance like a pet monkey. I also had to shoulder certain responsibilities, including helping manage the youth events. I would help run retreats and festivals.
Because my dad was their boss, it meant that the Church People had to accept me. I sort of hate that kind of labeling, being the hijo del jefe. Nevertheless, the benefit of being included meant the church people actually got to know me, and I had the unique opportunity to observe a phenomenon I've dubbed "The Foreigner Effect". My Spanish was so bad, it was funny! I also had a really cute American accent, or so they would tell me. It seemed that no matter what I did, I was funny, because I was American. It really helped when it came to being a part of the group! This immunity led to me taking on the role of El Gringo Loco, The Crazy American. I would do crazy stunts and act out, and it would reward me with laughs. Because I was a foreigner, they accepted me!
What was so different about these two groups though? They're both Peruvians, they both thought my Spanish was beyond abominable, so why did one exclude me while the other include me? The answer is simple. Social castes! The explanation isn't quite so simple, unfortunately. Peru, like most of Latin America was very much divided according to income. The rich stayed with the rich and the poor stuck to the poor. If you didn't wear American brand clothing, you were poor! If you smoked and partied each weekend, you were rich! The poor set up stands on sidewalks to sell drinks and snacks, the rich ignored them as they walked past to their next apartment building. The School People were rich, the Church People were poor. Two separate castes. The question remains, who did I end up spending most of my time with?
If you're thinking the poor, because they were non-judgmental and openly accepting, you're way off mark. I was accepted, yes, but not because of me being such a great guy. It was because I made them feel better about themselves that here was a stupid American who couldn't speak simple Spanish. After my sophomore year in high school, I was growing frustrated, being alone at school all the time. It's difficult, managing everything without support! So I started to work harder in Spanish. I would practice it with my family. I would talk to the Peruvian guards at my church. I started talking to the School People in Spanish, many of them surprised at my growing aptitude. This paid off by senior year. This became my favourite year in my entire school life because I became great friends with the majority of the School People! To be honest, I had never had so many friends! But at what cost?
My hard work paid off at school, but it sacrificed what I had with the Church People. During my senior year, I rarely helped at an event, I never showed up at youth planning meetings, I just stopped caring. I tried talking to a few Church People here and there whose company I had enjoyed, but it was just boring. There was no spark, no fun. That's when I realised that I didn't have to act like, well, a complete dumbass in order to get attention! Now that I knew Spanish, I lost the foreign charm about me. I was just another rich snob to them. The oppression had reversed. When I knew little Spanish, the Church People accepted me while the School People rejected me. As that changed, so did my friendships. The Church People began to reject me while the School People accepted me. The point of all this? Learn a foreign language and you develop close friendships to rich people who will one day be powerful!
I know that Fox wanted us to talk about how language oppressed our social lives because of words used that could be harmful. I'm not going to write about that. There's very little language that offends me. All those so-called insulting terms, they're just words. What really oppressed my social circle, and this is what I thought when Fox first said language, was different spoken language, i.e. Spanish versus English. Why? Because it affected my life throughout high school, that's why. Where I hung out, who I hung out with, and when I would go out to just hang.
The first and most significant social circle was my school. I went to a school that, while British and equipped with a British faculty, had a largely Peruvian student body. Problem was, while I had grown up in Honduras, I had forgotten most of my Spanish. I could communicate enough to survive, but I couldn't socialise. This didn't go over well with my classmates, the School People. They had no interest in interacting with somebody that couldn't understand them. As a result, I was an outcast. I never heard about parties, people would ignore me when I needed help, nobody listened when I had something to say. You could say that I wasn't in the social circle. That's how bad the oppression was. I didn't even exist!
But there were other places as well. One of them was my church. I was heavily involved in the social projects that the church had, mostly because of my father. He was their priest. This meant I had to play the model child, and smile and dance like a pet monkey. I also had to shoulder certain responsibilities, including helping manage the youth events. I would help run retreats and festivals.
Because my dad was their boss, it meant that the Church People had to accept me. I sort of hate that kind of labeling, being the hijo del jefe. Nevertheless, the benefit of being included meant the church people actually got to know me, and I had the unique opportunity to observe a phenomenon I've dubbed "The Foreigner Effect". My Spanish was so bad, it was funny! I also had a really cute American accent, or so they would tell me. It seemed that no matter what I did, I was funny, because I was American. It really helped when it came to being a part of the group! This immunity led to me taking on the role of El Gringo Loco, The Crazy American. I would do crazy stunts and act out, and it would reward me with laughs. Because I was a foreigner, they accepted me!
What was so different about these two groups though? They're both Peruvians, they both thought my Spanish was beyond abominable, so why did one exclude me while the other include me? The answer is simple. Social castes! The explanation isn't quite so simple, unfortunately. Peru, like most of Latin America was very much divided according to income. The rich stayed with the rich and the poor stuck to the poor. If you didn't wear American brand clothing, you were poor! If you smoked and partied each weekend, you were rich! The poor set up stands on sidewalks to sell drinks and snacks, the rich ignored them as they walked past to their next apartment building. The School People were rich, the Church People were poor. Two separate castes. The question remains, who did I end up spending most of my time with?
If you're thinking the poor, because they were non-judgmental and openly accepting, you're way off mark. I was accepted, yes, but not because of me being such a great guy. It was because I made them feel better about themselves that here was a stupid American who couldn't speak simple Spanish. After my sophomore year in high school, I was growing frustrated, being alone at school all the time. It's difficult, managing everything without support! So I started to work harder in Spanish. I would practice it with my family. I would talk to the Peruvian guards at my church. I started talking to the School People in Spanish, many of them surprised at my growing aptitude. This paid off by senior year. This became my favourite year in my entire school life because I became great friends with the majority of the School People! To be honest, I had never had so many friends! But at what cost?
My hard work paid off at school, but it sacrificed what I had with the Church People. During my senior year, I rarely helped at an event, I never showed up at youth planning meetings, I just stopped caring. I tried talking to a few Church People here and there whose company I had enjoyed, but it was just boring. There was no spark, no fun. That's when I realised that I didn't have to act like, well, a complete dumbass in order to get attention! Now that I knew Spanish, I lost the foreign charm about me. I was just another rich snob to them. The oppression had reversed. When I knew little Spanish, the Church People accepted me while the School People rejected me. As that changed, so did my friendships. The Church People began to reject me while the School People accepted me. The point of all this? Learn a foreign language and you develop close friendships to rich people who will one day be powerful!
Sticks and Stones
Language, for the most part, has lost a lot of its meaning in the last century. If you look back 400 years ago, we used words a lot more carefully to say what was needed to be said. I mean many words have lost a lot of their meaning such as the word great. Great is now just a generic word for good, in fact it could be used in a lot of ways but still be the same.
However even with language being so meaningless words can still be used to hurt. Its just who says and the context that they say it with that hurts. For instance if my friend calls me gay I know hes joking so it rolls right off me like its nothing, its just his way of calling me gay. However is I walk up to some complete stranger or someone I'm having a real argument and say their gay then that may cause a bit more of a blow.
In my social circles we can use words very carelessly we say things we would never want our parents to here, I guess it started as a way to rebel and be cool but its become a habit. A lot of us use the F word a lot but we would be completely embarrassed if our parents ever heard us. Words just mean different things depending on who and how you say them to.
Language has been used to oppress people. Racist things stuff such as the “N word” where created for the sol purpose of demoralizing people and forcing them to submit to you.
Is language out of hand then? Are these words we created with horrible meanings need to be done away with like in George Orwell's 1984? No, because that wouldn't change anything. Words do nothing but vocalize our feelings. I might feel very strongly about something so I need a strong word, or I might be talking to my friend and need a word that is between the two of us, non harmful but vulgar to show that we are friends and cool with each other.
Besides if you don't care what other people think about you words can never really hurt you. When a kid who is playing Halo 3 starts yelling curse words over Xbox Live do you think he really hurts anyone? No, they don't know him they don't really care what he has to say, he is just some stupid kid who like to know that you have to listen to him.
You might say that words can hurt people, words if used wrong can be terrible things. Imagine if I used the “N word” to describe an African American, why that would be horrible! But words can't harm people, only people can harm people. If I am calling that person that word I know what it means and I'm using that word because I do, I mean harm to them.
Overall words meanings have changed. We use words to say different things but we still use them for the same purpose. To vocalize our feeling towards a certain subject, their a tool, nothing more.
However even with language being so meaningless words can still be used to hurt. Its just who says and the context that they say it with that hurts. For instance if my friend calls me gay I know hes joking so it rolls right off me like its nothing, its just his way of calling me gay. However is I walk up to some complete stranger or someone I'm having a real argument and say their gay then that may cause a bit more of a blow.
In my social circles we can use words very carelessly we say things we would never want our parents to here, I guess it started as a way to rebel and be cool but its become a habit. A lot of us use the F word a lot but we would be completely embarrassed if our parents ever heard us. Words just mean different things depending on who and how you say them to.
Language has been used to oppress people. Racist things stuff such as the “N word” where created for the sol purpose of demoralizing people and forcing them to submit to you.
Is language out of hand then? Are these words we created with horrible meanings need to be done away with like in George Orwell's 1984? No, because that wouldn't change anything. Words do nothing but vocalize our feelings. I might feel very strongly about something so I need a strong word, or I might be talking to my friend and need a word that is between the two of us, non harmful but vulgar to show that we are friends and cool with each other.
Besides if you don't care what other people think about you words can never really hurt you. When a kid who is playing Halo 3 starts yelling curse words over Xbox Live do you think he really hurts anyone? No, they don't know him they don't really care what he has to say, he is just some stupid kid who like to know that you have to listen to him.
You might say that words can hurt people, words if used wrong can be terrible things. Imagine if I used the “N word” to describe an African American, why that would be horrible! But words can't harm people, only people can harm people. If I am calling that person that word I know what it means and I'm using that word because I do, I mean harm to them.
Overall words meanings have changed. We use words to say different things but we still use them for the same purpose. To vocalize our feeling towards a certain subject, their a tool, nothing more.
Opressive language
Beline Unogeye
Language effects on society
Language has played an oppressive role, in my social circle and others in many different ways. First we have different categorize of language first there is the language that we speak to communicate with the people around us , there is also body language, sign language , written language etc.
The languages that we speak and are spoken around us can sometimes be burdensome to other people who do not speak or at least understand it. Take an example of when someone goes to a foreign country and does not know how to speak their language; it can sometimes make someone feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. They can feel uncomfortable anywhere they go like to the super market, because you do not speak the language you cannot get around by yourself. It can also make someone feel that their dependent on other people to get around. Someone has to translate for you everywhere, you constantly need them, and that brings you down because you start to feel helpless and lost. This especially happens when you move somewhere not to visit but it is going to be your new home and after this you feel like going back to wherever you came from. People ask themselves this questions many times before really knowing the answer to it, “why am I here?” or “is this really what it’s going to be like? “.
We teenagers deal with the oppressive side of language the most, because we are trying to find ourselves and the people around you are also trying to define you. People take things differently, like some words might be considered “harsh’’ or “mean’’ in some places and others not. Like the word “Fat’’, here in America calling someone fat is considered mean and insulting but in some other places that’s not the case it’s just a fact ,just another word . That is why people need to be aware of their surroundings before using some words that have different meanings for different people.
In some social circles the way you speak determines your class. In most cases the ones who speak more fluently and use no slang are from the higher class and those who don’t are from the lower and middle class. People who speak slang are sometimes considered uneducated , which is not necessarily true some just like using it because it is simpler but it does not mean that they don’t know how to speak without slang. People who speak a different language are often stereotyped, like ‘’the French are all so romantic, and all French boys are charming ‘’ just because it is the romantic language. Words from another language are often changed and used in some other place, like the word ‘’nigger’’ in Spanish its ‘’Negro’’ which means black person. It is offensive to call someone that in America because it was a derogatory term that white people used to refer to people of color as. The way a word is used and in which manner and place it is used can completely change the meaning of the word.
Another type of Language that I think has played an oppressive role is body language. Body language is “using body movements or gestures instead of, or in addition to, sounds, verbal language or other communication.’’ Some of these body movements can be more offensive or have more power over words. For example the middle finger over time it has come to be an insult when it used to just a finger. As they say “actions speak louder than words”, today if your facial expression is not happy and do not always smile you are considered depressed or unhappy. But really is that what happiness really is? Having a smile on your face 24/7, those people who do not show how they are feeling inside it eats them up. Another thing about body language is that it shows your personality or how you feel about yourself. If you were all black you are said to be gothic, this is a way people today describe others.
The language you use around family and friends can sometimes change the way people see you. Around family you are supposed to use kind words and be respectful. But around friends you are also supposed to be kind but not the way you are with your family, if you behave the same way your friends consider you different to most a normal teen is supposed to be free say whatever they feel whenever they feel like it. But this makes language look it has to be used differently around different people. Which is what our society thinks, but that is not how it really is supposed to be.
If our society today did not add their own meaning to words and gestures, language would not play such a negative role in our societies today. But we the next generation can stop that by stopping to cliché‘s and using words when they are supposed to be used.
Words will never Hurt Me
Language influences my social circles in many ways. People use racist, prejudice, and sexist terms virtually every day. This creates controversy and civil unrest every time these words are mentioned. It’s not like people joke about this stuff anyway. Not too long ago, these words caused fights to break out and even death. Today, people have become desensitized to these words and throw them around in everyday conversation. Profanity is everywhere now, because media has put these words in everything. You can find profanity in movies, music, even on the walls of the bathroom stall! This is the reason for the desensitization; even children are running around screaming what they heard in the movies. Everybody uses profanity, some more than others, but it’s not like we are going to arrest people for cursing.
Curse words used to be an unforgivable sin, punished with a ruler, like the devil himself created these words. Parents often prevent children from cursing and often scold them if they do use them. Is it wrong to have 5 years yelling profanity in the playground? To prevent this, our society has come up with some “watered down” curse words which children can use. This makes no sense to me; it’s like giving kids training wheels, so they can ride their bikes into walls tagged with the real curse words. This “G” rated profanity will surely prevent the youth from saying those real curse words. Or maybe it will just give them a sample of what they really want. With the media not censoring anything anymore, children will easily loose the training wheels, and will quickly learn how to speak improperly.
As these children mature, their vocabulary will not. Profanity will become part of their vocabulary just as adults have to get their morning fix of Starbucks. The more these terms are used they have less of an impact on others. Desensitization to profanity is part of our culture; you cannot turn a corner in the hallways without hearing a curse word, so of course your mind will create immunity to it. It is so severe that some people curse so much that they do not even realize they have cursed. The only place you will not hear profanity is in jokes, arguments, or in the media. Actually those are the three places where they are the most common. It just happens that those three things encompass a large majority of daily conversations. Profanity can still kill people, but generally, those terms have lost most of their impact on society.
Knowing racist terms is a good way to enhance your vocabulary. These terms do not degrade certain people because of their ethnicity. These terms have historic roots, which is the reason why they affect people so much. Racial slurs are devastating because they bring a level of hate into the conversation. Although racist terms offend people, it is our obligation to use as much vocabulary as possible in our writing and producing. It is impossible to create a good film or joke without racist remarks. It’s not like racist terms have a negative impact.
Racist terms are all over the media in today’s culture. Films, music, and even books have racist material in them. People enjoy those films because they take the jokes lightly. Others are offended by these films and often protest. These protests often lead to the immediate cancelation of the film. It’s not like people see these films to have a good time, they simply just go to learn new racist terms. But in reality these terms do get absorbed in their vocabulary. These terms are often used after they are learned. An obvious solution would be make racist terms a death penalty offense. That would make people stop saying racist terms by either by fear or by killing everyone. That point aside; these terms are being used more frequently, but their impact on our circles is diminishing. These racist comments are more humorous than hurtful in today’s society.
Language has shaped my social structure in many ways. All these negative terms are being used in today’s language, and yet, their impact is dwindling. Depending on the context, words can have different impacts. For example, a racist might (but probably not) have different intentions when saying a racist term, than say a comedian. It’s not like people all over the country speak the same anyways. I still struggle to tell the difference from a joke and seriousness. Although words are very deceiving, they can often be both funny and hateful at the same time. This is something to consider the next time you hear a racist joke. Is it really just a joke? Racist slurs and profanity have lost their impact in society, so feel free to use them as you please. In fact, the first amendment gives you the right to curse and make racist comments, so take advantage of that because no one will take your sentences seriously with those words in them.
Curse words used to be an unforgivable sin, punished with a ruler, like the devil himself created these words. Parents often prevent children from cursing and often scold them if they do use them. Is it wrong to have 5 years yelling profanity in the playground? To prevent this, our society has come up with some “watered down” curse words which children can use. This makes no sense to me; it’s like giving kids training wheels, so they can ride their bikes into walls tagged with the real curse words. This “G” rated profanity will surely prevent the youth from saying those real curse words. Or maybe it will just give them a sample of what they really want. With the media not censoring anything anymore, children will easily loose the training wheels, and will quickly learn how to speak improperly.
As these children mature, their vocabulary will not. Profanity will become part of their vocabulary just as adults have to get their morning fix of Starbucks. The more these terms are used they have less of an impact on others. Desensitization to profanity is part of our culture; you cannot turn a corner in the hallways without hearing a curse word, so of course your mind will create immunity to it. It is so severe that some people curse so much that they do not even realize they have cursed. The only place you will not hear profanity is in jokes, arguments, or in the media. Actually those are the three places where they are the most common. It just happens that those three things encompass a large majority of daily conversations. Profanity can still kill people, but generally, those terms have lost most of their impact on society.
Knowing racist terms is a good way to enhance your vocabulary. These terms do not degrade certain people because of their ethnicity. These terms have historic roots, which is the reason why they affect people so much. Racial slurs are devastating because they bring a level of hate into the conversation. Although racist terms offend people, it is our obligation to use as much vocabulary as possible in our writing and producing. It is impossible to create a good film or joke without racist remarks. It’s not like racist terms have a negative impact.
Racist terms are all over the media in today’s culture. Films, music, and even books have racist material in them. People enjoy those films because they take the jokes lightly. Others are offended by these films and often protest. These protests often lead to the immediate cancelation of the film. It’s not like people see these films to have a good time, they simply just go to learn new racist terms. But in reality these terms do get absorbed in their vocabulary. These terms are often used after they are learned. An obvious solution would be make racist terms a death penalty offense. That would make people stop saying racist terms by either by fear or by killing everyone. That point aside; these terms are being used more frequently, but their impact on our circles is diminishing. These racist comments are more humorous than hurtful in today’s society.
Language has shaped my social structure in many ways. All these negative terms are being used in today’s language, and yet, their impact is dwindling. Depending on the context, words can have different impacts. For example, a racist might (but probably not) have different intentions when saying a racist term, than say a comedian. It’s not like people all over the country speak the same anyways. I still struggle to tell the difference from a joke and seriousness. Although words are very deceiving, they can often be both funny and hateful at the same time. This is something to consider the next time you hear a racist joke. Is it really just a joke? Racist slurs and profanity have lost their impact in society, so feel free to use them as you please. In fact, the first amendment gives you the right to curse and make racist comments, so take advantage of that because no one will take your sentences seriously with those words in them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)