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Path: utzoo!watmath!saquigley
From: saquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: the power of words
Message-ID: <6762@watmath.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 1-Feb-84 22:52:10 EST
Article-I.D.: watmath.6762
Posted: Wed Feb  1 22:52:10 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 7-Feb-84 11:19:54 EST
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 83


I, too was an early feminist.  I can remember exactly when it happened:
When I was in grade 1, our teacher explained to us (my mother tongue is french)
that if you had a hundred female cats and one male cat, the collective pronoun
would be "ils".  French is an even more sexist language than English.  I was
terribly shocked by this and asked "what if the male cat was hidden?".  It was
still "ils".  The idea that one stupid male cat that nobody could see would be
more important than one hundred female cats really got to me.  I wondered about
this for a long time thinking about situations in which one would be allowed to
say "elles".

I've discussed this "s/he" topic a few times with people very rationally and
came to the conclusion each time that 'yes, I know it is wrong, but there's not
really too much we can do about it, and anyway people don't mean "he" when they
say it, they really mean "he or she", so they mean it for me; all I have to do
is get used to the idea, that's much simpler than changing the language;
besides, changing languages is very complicated and costly and awkward and there
are many more important things to worry about than this`

So, when I read that article, I started thinking along those reasonable lines
until I came to the examples;  then it hit me, what a bunch of crap all those
excuses are!  if "he" means "s/he" then how come putting "she" in those sayings
make them look like some of the best (or corniest) feminist propaganda?  Just
look at them! if I had said all these things the way they are now, I would have
been called all sorts of names.  The ideas expressed in there sound
revolutionary when they are applied to women, words of wisdom when applied to
men: "to every woman her chance, to every woman, regardless of her birth, her
shining golden opportunity - to every woman the right to live, to work, to be
herself, and to become whatever thing her womanhood and her vision can combine
to make her".  Doesn't this "every woman" sound like she is going to do all
sorts of horrible things, like "destroy our families"?

This is when ** THE TRUTH ** came to me: a "he" is a "he" is a "he" and a "she"
is a "she" is a "she" and a "man" is .... and a "woman" is a ...
When people say "he" they think "he" and they mean "he".  The reason we "she"s
have trouble understanding that ""he" means me too" is not because we have
some kind of "translation problem" or "lack of imagination", but simply because 
"he" is ""he" (i.e. not me)".
I laughed (inside), how could I have been so stupid all these years?  I knew it
all along and it is so obvious that "he" means "he", after all that's the
definition of the word, isn't it?, why was I trying to believe that this wasn't
true?


While I was guiltily enjoying the lecture of this feminist propaganda, I noticed
something else in me.  As these words were talking to me, I was listening to
what they were saying.  I had heard some of these in their original version and
had found them nice but somewhat corny, chinese fortune cookie-ish, and pompous.
But now they evoked all sorts of weird feelings in me.  For a while, I was ready
to go jump on barricades and hurl stones at whoever wanted to attack my freedom.
I was going to die defending my beliefs and my rights to ......
When I regained my wits, I finally understood how people managed to get manipu-
lated by all sorts of propaganda, because it happened to me (Gosh, just like the
poor Americans and their TDA I flamed at in net.politics) And to think I thought
I was immune to propaganda because I was much more intelligent than all those
stupid people who believe all this crap when actually it was simply because the
crap was never properly fired at me!  Feed ME crap and watch me run;  I'll fly
for you!!
(pause.. humbling moment.. (I am getting more and more of these as I grow up))

Fortunately, I was saved from my humility by the **Feminist thought of the day**
(they sure come at very appropriate times) How many women out there are like me?
people have been saying all along that we women are much more peaceful than
those awful testosterone-loaded men.  Could it simply be because we were never
adequately manipulated because the manipulators didn't understand how to talk to
us, and so we managed to keep a clearer mind and see the words for what they
were, just words?  who knows?

Moral of the story: none.
I just wanted to see how other people reacted to this article which made me
react so strongly because for once it spoke to me.  Another thing I wondered
about and still wonder about:  am I the only person in the world who has to
constantly rediscover basic truths that I knew all along?  All of this "words
are powerful" stuff has been said before.  I did my duty, I read about Newspeak,
understood it, even agreed with it.  There are lots of other stuff I read about,
understand and agree with or disagree with.  I have thought about lots of
thoughts along with their authors as I have read their words, and yet it is
only when people say "hey you!! yes I mean YOU, listen to what I am saying"
that I finally fully listen and understand.  Is this a perception problem that I
have because I am human,  because I am a woman, or because I am immature me?

				Sophie Quigley
				watmath!saquigley