From: utzoo!decvax!duke!mcnc!unc!ge
Newsgroups: net.nlang,net.women
Title: Syntactic Sugar
Article-I.D.: unc.5080
Posted: Wed Apr 27 10:22:24 1983
Received: Thu Apr 28 02:53:31 1983


Both Saumya Debray (sbcs!debray) and A.T. (the Extra-Linguistical) seem
to agree that

    ...sexism is not in the language, which is but a vehicle
    to communicate one's thoughts with (sic). Sexism is in the minds of
    people.  If we want to root out sexism, we should go and try to
    change those thoughts, those attitudes, rather than try to castrate
    the language.

Let assume for the moment that sexism is not in the language.  Let us
instead merely accept the fact that many women (and many men as well)
BELIEVE that sexism is in the language.  Moreover, let us accept the
fact that these women and men have clearly stated that they are
offended by certain ways of referring to females (and sometimes males)
and by the use of certain "generic" nouns and pronouns.

If the above assumptions are correct, then it is irrelevant whether
sexism is in the language or not.  Like it or not, your use of the
language is political.  It cannot help showing respect or disrespect
for the views of many women and men.

Let me take as a small example my co-recreational volleyball team.
When we first began playing together three years ago, our coach
referred to the female players as "girls."  They protested that they
wanted to be called "women."  It doesn't matter if they are too young
to be called "women." It doesn't matter if the A.T.'s in the world call
such niceties "syntactic sugar."  What matters is what those women wish
to be called.

Another example.  The respectful words used to refer to Afro-Americans
have changed several times during this century.  The words comprising
the name "NAACP" show that the word "Colored" was recently a respectful
term.  Later, this word was replaced by "Negro," which in turn was
replaced by "Black" in the speech of many Americans.  Does it matter
that the term "Black" might be "syntactic sugar" because many Blacks
are not black?  Does it matter that "Negro" might be somehow more
accurate anthropologically?  It does not: if you do not use words such
as "Black" or "Afro-American," you are making a negative political
statement whether you wish to or not.

Debray claims to "...have some feeling for the English language."  ALL
that he has a (conscious) feeling for is syntax.  People who truely
understand their language know more than syntax and good style.  They
also understand such things as its tones, its dialects and its political
uses.

					-George Entenman
					 ge@unc


P.S. My coach now says "women" when referring to all of the women on the
team, but he uses "girl" when saying such things as "We need a girl to
set the ball."  No one complains.