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Utopian Turtletop. Monsieur Croche's Bête Noire. Contact: turtletop [at] hotmail [dot] com
Friday, January 21, 2005
GENDERED LANGUAGE
The grammarians say that English isn’t a gendered language, but the socio-linguists know better.
Everybody knows, animals are “he” until proven otherwise. Go to a zoo some time and listen to how people talk. In children’s books too, animals are usually “he.” Except sometimes mice. And hippos. Don’t ask me why.
I enjoy being a boy, but sometimes I envy the freedom of middle aged diner waitresses who can call everybody “honey” or “sweetie.” There are times when I want to call everybody “honey” or “sweetie” too.
The grammarians say that English isn’t a gendered language, but the socio-linguists know better.
Everybody knows, animals are “he” until proven otherwise. Go to a zoo some time and listen to how people talk. In children’s books too, animals are usually “he.” Except sometimes mice. And hippos. Don’t ask me why.
I enjoy being a boy, but sometimes I envy the freedom of middle aged diner waitresses who can call everybody “honey” or “sweetie.” There are times when I want to call everybody “honey” or “sweetie” too.
Comments:
That's one of the nicest things in "The Odd Couple," Oscar calling Felix (and every other man) "honey," "sweetie," and other non-masculine terms of endearment.
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