A few days ago in my German class, we were discussing the different genders of different nouns (in the German language, there are three: neuter, feminine and masculine). With certain nouns denoting the type of person being described, the suffix depends upon the gender of the person you are speaking of. For example, the word for a male teacher is Lehrer, and the world for a female teacher is Lehrerin. Most nouns follow this patter, adding -in to the end of the noun to denote the person is a female. However, my teacher explained that Germany is having a shift toward more gender-neutral nouns because they now recognize that there is no gender binary, but that in fact there is a whole spectrum of genders. Language can interpret societal views, and societal views can also interpret and change language. 

Words say a lot more than we think they do, and words have more meaning than simply conveying and communicating thought. We take language for granted, and we don’t understand implications of words. I am no longer going to talk about issues of gender in language (I am only slightly aware of the advocation for the world “womyn” instead of women), but language as a whole. Words. Often times we say words without thinking of implication and without fully understanding what we are partaking in. When you tell someone, either male or female, to “man up”—what are you really saying? You aren’t telling them to literally grow into a male, but to take on the characteristics of masculinity (typically known as strength and an absence of emotional sensitivity). You rarely hear “woman up”. When we hear someone call another person a “pussy” or you hear a male peppered with the phrase “stop acting like a girl!”, why are we so oblivious to the implications? Why does it provoke the same emotion as hearing the words “door”, “table”, “couch” (unless you really have a thing for household items) would?

So many people are indifferent to language, and I cannot really put the blame on them. When you say or write a word over and over (listen listen listen listen listen listen listen listen listen…etc.), it begins to not sound or look like a real word. When we get used to words or phrases with negative connotations, the implications become imaginary, invisible and they disappear. When someone exclaims, “I totally just raped that test!”, did they invade their test’s privacy and subject it to violence? Not really. But we often just hear “I totally just aced that test!” without really having to interpret. I can’t really make big claims on the impacts of this, but this results in indifference toward violence/racism/sexism/bigotry being the norm. It scares me how when we had a woman who had experienced rape come to my class, my male friends didn’t see how rape was “such a big deal”, and they only joked about it. It doesn’t evoke the emotions it should. In some instances, the blame goes directly toward the victim. One could argue that words like slut have played a huge role in this.

These issues go beyond language, but language is a very critical aspect in how we interpret the world around us. They convey images, implications and norms. I’m not suggesting that every word you use be overanalyzed, but words are not empty vessels that travel from mouth to ear. Be aware of the words you’re using. Be aware of the implications, and be aware of who you might possibly offend.