h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Now I think I'll go back to My Space and remove my gender...maybe. Anyhow, it was a thought provoking piece and I think you spent your time well!

Just one comment. When a person or group of people that have been oppressed (i.e. black slaves, women) finally gains their freedom and/or becomes aware of their self-worth they, rightfully, want society to reflect that change. That means everything that was once a tool to keep them subservient must be changed, and part of that change is most definitely language. That's why non-black people can't call a black person the N-word, even our anti-PC friend in another thread wrote N****r instead of just typing it completely. The N-word is a conspicuous example though, and runs into the realm of name calling.

However, there are examples that aren't as blatant and it's because we are just so used to them. For example, using the word "man" or "men" as a gender-neutral word. "All men are created equal", well that depends on your definition of who is included in the word "men." So as ideas change and evolve, language follows the trend and reflects the ideas. So that when the words "All men are created equal" people knew that "men" meant white males. Now we extend it to include everyone or to be equivalent to "humanity." But that doesn't change the fact that some people are still plagued by its original meaning.

So, the question is. Do we change the definitions of the words to reflect social changes or do we create new words to reflect social changes?

But that still doesn't really get into pronoun use, which is a very messy business. But in writing today, we should have something that includes everyone. In earlier times, less than a hundred years ago, it would be perfectly okay to use the pronoun "him" in all examples or as the sole subject of an essay. That's because scholarly essays were mostly written for men. Even Mary Wollstonecraft's feministist manifesto, The Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was aimed at men. However, we are now in a time when women are equal to men. So perhaps our language should reflect that?

Okay, okay, that was a long comment but once I started I couldn't stop! Honestly, I didn't even know what my opinion was until I finished writing-so hopefully my comment is half intelligible.

Nope, it's pretty intelligible to me, anyway And I agree with much of what you say. However, I think that as well as reflecting social change, language can also be used to create social change: it's a two-way process.

> "We are now in a time when women are equal to men"

I don't think that's true. I won't go on in detail, because I rapidly start sounding like a fundamentalist, but I'm not convinced we're 100% there yet. The bulk of the work has been done, though.

-Martin