
How Words Affect Our Thoughts on Race and Gender - dnetesn
http://nautil.us/blog/how-our-words-affect-our-thoughts-on-race-and-gender
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LesZedCB
Two of my roommates are non-gendered (they don't identify as either gender),
and use the pronouns they/them instead of she/he or his/hers. At first it was
really difficult to not misgender them and I would often use the pronouns that
describe their sex designation. However, now that I have gotten used to it, it
has opened up a whole new way of interacting with and categorizing people.
Some interesting instances are when I try to make a joke about some attribute
that is usually attributed to a certain sex (e.g. males are more into video
games), I have to break down the link that I have made between a trait and a
gender identity, and actually figure out what the actual connection is too.
Turns out it's usually independent of gender expression and actually some more
specific trait.

Of course, this is just one specific category that we have to taught to
recognize. I think it is incredibly valuable when dealing with humans to be
able to unlearn the generalizations that we have been brought up to understand
intuitively, and learn to treat people independently of the characterizations
that society has incedentally bestowed on them.

There are other instances where language affects how people spend money[1], or
how characterizing argument with war metaphors causes it to be more combative
[citation lost to memory]. My partner is a linguist and is always talking to
me about how much the language we use affects the way we think about things.
It's fascinating, and its power is something we all should be made aware of.

[1]
[http://www.ted.com/talks/keith_chen_could_your_language_affe...](http://www.ted.com/talks/keith_chen_could_your_language_affect_your_ability_to_save_money)

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cup
I've noticed within my circle of colleagues some people who found the idea of
changing pronouns personally offensive, and refused to call people by their
chosen titles.

Interestingly enough, when they met transgender or non-gendered people and
actually worked with them their attitudes changed dramatically and they
suddenly got it.

I think for a lot of people, the abstract ideas don't click until they're
tangible and 'in the flesh' so to speak.

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xlm1717
Orwell seems more prescient every day. Blackwhite seems especially relevant
here:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Newspeak_words#Blackwh...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Newspeak_words#Blackwhite)

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omonra
The author seems to have got his logic exactly backward. Not that this stopped
any identity warriors, ever.

The reason humans actually have words for categories (like 'cats' or
'policemen') is because said categories are important and indeed allow for
generalizations.

Meanwhile things that lack verbal categories ('people who wear socks', 'people
who have funny-looking ears') precisely lack them because language bearers
have never had the need to invent a verbal category as there wasn't much
generalizing to be done about these groups.

Likewise looking at children's use of words is idiotic because they are @#$%
children - ie they lack any sort of life experience. Jewish israeli children
(just like arab ones) have no need to categorize people into Arab/Jews because
they are not dealing with all the crap their respective adults have to contend
with. Same way a 3yo may look at a tiger cub and call him a cat - because she
does not possess the mental faculty / understanding of what tigers are and the
importance of the verbal category 'tiger'.

