What’s in a Word? Why Language Matters When it Comes to Sexuality and Gender

[Shana A]

What's in a Word? Why Language Matters When it Comes to Sexuality and Gender

http://www.wakingvixen.com/blog/2009/04/09/whats-in-a-word-why-language-matters-when-it-comes-to-sexuality-and-gender/

I have something of a love/hate relationship with language around sexuality and gender. Language can be used as a weapon, as a tool of oppression and dismissal (I think of the times I've seen trans friends visibly wince when someone pointedly uses the wrong pronoun at them); it can be used to liberate and expand people's ways of thinking about gender and sexuality. It can also be used to jumble a message and bring productive conversation to a standstill. I've been thinking about striking balance among all these things especially because working in the non-profit sexual and reproductive rights world means that I spend a lot of time processing and thinking about appropriate and effective language.