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From: jbf@ccieng5.UUCP (Jens Bernhard Fiederer)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Animal Sexist Language
Message-ID: <391@ccieng5.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 21-Apr-84 16:05:16 EST
Article-I.D.: ccieng5.391
Posted: Sat Apr 21 16:05:16 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Apr-84 09:28:35 EST
References: <313@teldata.UUCP>, <7578@watmath.UUCP>
Organization: CCI Central Engineering, Rochester, NY
Lines: 26

>What do you have to loose by adopting our solution?  It solves the problem,
>doesn't it?  why don't you care a bit more about our own self-image? is the
>"purity" of language so important that it must be defended at the cost of
>possibly alienating half of the population and at least not communicating
>very well with them.

At least in my case, it is not the "purity" of language that concerns me.
The language with which I grew up has become part of my nature, and it
would feel unnatural to warp it simply to satisfy some fad.  If you truly
believe this fad is supported by half the population, please make this
somewhat more evident to the rest of us.  I see only a small minority
clamoring to change the language as an expression of their power.

By the way, I am also one of those guilty of calling female humans of
most ages "girls".  Throughout my life, when someone has pointedly called
me a "man", they usually wanted something from me, and came off as very
pompous: "you are a MAN, and it is part of being a MAN to do such and such
that I desire."  Such blatant attempts at manipulation put me off.  I
don't want to come off the same way, using the rather stilted "WOMAN" to
ingratiate myself.

Siegfried
-- 
"Some people are eccentric, but I am just plain odd"
Reachable as
	....allegra![rayssd,rlgvax]!ccieng5!jbf