If you use the "w" word, do they take you to the Senate men's room and chew you out?
Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans is on C-Span, testifying again before the Katrina commission. He, like the male Senators, calls Sen. Susan Collins "Madame Chairman," though sometimes he realizes this isn't quite right (give him credit there--the senators don't have a clue), and out comes "Madame Chair." But he cannot get the word "woman" to come out of his mouth.
The U.S. Senate is supposed to be a very sophisticated body, but it insists on using outdated and sexist honorifics for women, and calling everyone "chairman," despite her or his gender. Obviously, the female senators do not put a stop to it.
I will not write another mini-essay on the importance of language; I'll just say this: Until our language reflects equality, until the word "woman" automatically rolls off of people's tongues, we will always know that the consciousness of even the "enlightened" members of our culture is basically sexist.
The U.S. Senate is supposed to be a very sophisticated body, but it insists on using outdated and sexist honorifics for women, and calling everyone "chairman," despite her or his gender. Obviously, the female senators do not put a stop to it.
I will not write another mini-essay on the importance of language; I'll just say this: Until our language reflects equality, until the word "woman" automatically rolls off of people's tongues, we will always know that the consciousness of even the "enlightened" members of our culture is basically sexist.
posted by Diane at 9:50 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Yes, exactly. Thank you. Won't someone please say 'chairwoman', for the love of Pete?
I'm a fan of some gender neutral terms, too, but then I think that obfuscating gender (at this point in our enlightenment anyway) allows people to return to a male default. Like "doctor," for instance, in which, dammit, even I think of a white-haired man in a lab coat. Grrrr.
By
Anonymous, at
10:11 PM
My primary doctor of many years left town, so my doctor now is a colleague of mine--a woman. My g.i. doctor is a woman. My gynecologist is a woman. My dentist is a woman. Our two vets are women. When I think of a doctor, I think of a woman!
Many, many years ago, I knew a couple who went out of their way to raise their child in a non-sexist manner from a very early age. They made sure all of his doctors were women. One day he had to be rushed to the e.r., and when the doctor tried to treat him, he began screaming. His parents asked him what was wrong, and he yelled, "That's not a doctor. He's a man!"
By
Diane, at
10:59 AM
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