This weekend I read many social media posts about
“whataboutism.” The term caught my eye because it seemed so interesting. And it
seemed an insult. I figured it meant people asking “what about that?” but I
didn’t have much clue.
Whataboutism gives a clue to its meaning in its name.
It is not merely the changing of a subject (“What about the economy?”) to
deflect away from an earlier subject as a political strategy; it’s essentially
a reversal of accusation, arguing that an opponent is guilty of an offense just
as egregious or worse than what the original party was accused of doing,
however unconnected the offenses may be.
Upon first reading another explanation, I
concluded this was a red herring in logic — or distracting one’s opponent
from the issue at hand. But it’s a “you too” or tu qouque logical
fallacy. The opponent says that you are guilty of the same crime instead of
validating whether the first claim is true or not.
This circular logic is dizzying and confusing.
Now the term makes sense to me in the context of US
politics. Some are accusing Antifa and Black Lives Matters protestors of
similar conduct as the Stop the Steal protestors. Essentially, people are
pointing their fingers at each other.
In my humble opinion, protests turn too easily to riots
because bad actors generally appear at some point. Personally, I deliberate for
hours until I post my opinion on social media.
I wrote about this topic previously but added more content here.
Representative Emanuel
Cleaver II opened the 117th Congress session with a controversial end
to his prayer: “amen and a woman.” Cleaver meant it as a pun to illustrate the
current high number of female members of Congress. His intent seems good,
though his timing may seem sacrilegious and inappropriate to some.
Others on social media aired their grievances about
Cleaver’s pun. For example, conservative commentator Ben
Shapiro tweeted:
“Amen” is a Biblical Hebrew word: אמן. It is a word
simply meaning “may it be so.” It has nothing to do with the word “man” or
“woman” because it is FROM HEBREW. This is some of the dumbest s*** I have ever
seen in my life.
This incident illustrates the tension surrounding words and
gender politics. Even if intent may be honorable on both sides of an issue, a
war of words may still ensue over the definition narrowing and/or broadening of
gendered terms.
What do you think about Cleaver's pun on amen?
The Faux Pas
I experienced similar tension during a college class over
the Star Trek introduction. In the first few months of my
marriage to a Trekkie, my husband and I watched the original Star Trek where
I heard “To boldly go where no man has gone before” with every introduction.
During my Modern American Usage class the next semester, the
professor asked for examples of sexist or inclusive language.
“Where no man has gone before,” I said.
Suddenly two or three people in the class objected: “No,
it’s ‘where no one has gone before.’”
I cowered, but I knew I was right!
Well, I hadn’t watched Star Trek: Next Generation yet
where the creators had changed the introduction to inclusive language.
However, my example
with theirs showed the evolution of inclusive language from the 60s to
the 80s.
Has anyone ever called you out for sexist language? Have you ever called someone out for sexist language? How did the exchange go?
Generic Man
Over thousands of years, our language has narrowed generic
human nouns and pronouns into gender-specific nouns and pronouns (or vice
versa). Old English used wer to indicate an adult male, but
speakers replaced wer with man. The meaning ofmanmeant
male or female until AD 1000. But man retained the sense of
people for longer. The last original Star Trek introduction
(6/23/1969) and Neil Armstrong’s declaration on the moon “One small step for
man; one giant leap for mankind” (7/20/1969) illustrate this sense of people
until 1969.
Other terms that use man for the sense
people include mankind, manslaughter, manhandle,
etc. Mankind hasdeclined in usage over the past
200 years. Humankind seems to have replaced mankind in
some instances since 1960. Using Google Books Ngram, mankind usage
decreased in 1978 as humankind usage increased. Mankind has
a slight dip — mostly in the 90s — but it returns to the same percentage in
2019. Interestingly enough, mankind increased in the new Millennium. Humankind doesn’t
seem to have replaced mankind as of yet, and the term may never
do so.
The issue of gender-neutral versus gender-specific terms
encounters controversy because of potential discrimination based on sex,
religion, or political persuasion.
How do you feel about the changes in the House Ethic Rules?
Look at a Person’s Intentions
The changes in meaning and terms have been an underlying
issue in the culture wars for several decades. This tension will most likely
continue. But as it continues, we need to look at people’s intentions behind
their words. Like Cleaver and Shapiro, most of us have honorable intentions.
Thus, we can draw on our honorable intentions, instead of our desires to be
right or not offended, to reach compromises or to kindly disagree. Albeit not
everyone will do this, but you and I can choose to do this.
How can we approach each other with a "heart at peace" when addressing conflicts over language usage?
“Writing about writing” uses the same word as two different
word classifications: progressive verb+"about"+gerund.
Some things don't make sense; Photo by Author
As a child, many of my favorite books included main
characters who wanted to become writers. In Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Jo
March’s desire to write a great novel inspired my idea to write a great novel.
From the L.M. Montgomery’sAnne of
Green Gables series, I mourned when Gilbert made fun of Anne
Shirley, especially when he called her writing “highfalutin mumbo jumbo.”
Writers Alcott and Montgomery wrote about characters
who wrote. This cycle feels familiar even today. Now there is an entire
industry of writers writing about writing. Some make thousands of dollars from
writers and wannabee writers purchasing these items. Even I fall into the trap
of writing about writing. I enjoy helping others improve their writing and
other language skills, though I haven’t made any money with writing advice yet.
These thoughts on “writing about writing” intrigued me on a
grammatical level. The syntax (word
order) is a verb+preposition+noun, where the first verb is in the progressive
tense and the noun is a gerund (the
progressive verb form used as a noun). I experimented with other verbs: reading
about reading, dreaming about dreaming, or hearing about hearing. These
constructions made sense while others did not: walking about walking, tasting
about tasting, or climbing about climbing.
So what makes some verbs work, but not others?
I wondered about abstract verbs versus concrete verbs, but
that didn’t quite make sense. For example, the abstract idea of “thinking about
thinking” works yet the concrete idea of “typing about typing” works too. What
makes sense comes down to word definitions and context. Otherwise, these
are grammatically
correct, but nonsense phrases.
In the end, words are more than letters, sounds, and word
classes. They are the meaning generations of humans have imbued into these
sounds. Each word has an idea associated with it. Thus, I am writing about
writing.
So what progressive verbs can you think of that work as
gerunds that don’t sound nonsensical?
I wondered before school started how masks would delay my son’s speech, which I wrote about previously. After the third week of preschool, clear masks arrived in the mail and I sent his teacher one. Also, I sent my son with a clear mask to school. The masks tend to fog inside the plastic portion and they are harder to breathe through. Hence the fog negates part of the purpose. While subbing as an aide, I only saw one teacher put on a clear mask while she taught students about dental hygiene. After the mini-lesson, she switched to a normal mask.
From working in schools, more teachers are wearing a face shield instead of the clear masks when they need to communicate with speech-delayed children. The face shields are even more than what is required in this situation according to Governor Herbert’s mandate. Face shields are a compromise between no mask and masks. So far, I have seen teachers wearing a face shield during special education services. As I subbed for my third son's special ed class, the students and teachers and aides could use face shields for that room.
My youngest son’s speech has improved some since beginning preschool. He is saying three of four more words. He has doubled his word count! His /t/ no longer sounds like a /d/. Also, I recognize more intonations to phrases. I am so pleased with these small yet large improvements. Currently, the speech therapist wants us to work on turn-taking activities to mimic conversation.
Working as a substitute teacher or teacher aide, I have observed how different schools have implemented the mask mandate. In most schools, the students and teachers wear their masks normally. The children still have their masks fall below their noses often and need reminders. Some masks are just too big to stay on their noses long. In this case, some parents have twisted the elastic twice over to make it tighter. I tie a knot in earloops on my oldest son’s masks. The clear masks for my toddler came with little sliding adjustments, which work well as long as they don’t slide completely off. My youngest son has already lost one slider.
One school I subbed at required masks on for more activities than outlined in the Utah school mask mandate. This school made no exception for PE, special education, and for speech-delayed children. During PE, the children dropped their masks more frequently while jumping and they had difficulty breathing. I had greater trouble understanding the children with speech difficulties in the special education classroom. And they had trouble understanding me. We said “what?” a lot. Sometimes we gave up on communication entirely. For children with special needs, this increased their frustration and meltdowns.
Thus, the exceptions are there for a reason.
Students and staff can remove their masks during recess and while eating. Having a small break during the day has helped my anxious teenager through the process. I am glad that we don’t have to wear masks while eating. I don’t know if it would be possible to eat with a mask on, but it might be interesting and messy to try.
While wearing a mask, my throat hurts at the end of the day. Kudos to teachers and other staff who do this every day! I used a cough drop to soothe my throat tonight. While I had a sinus infection and sore throat the last weekend of September, I drank warm water with honey and lemon juice. It soothed my throat, so I may need to try that for “mask throat.”
For all the challenges, Utah teachers and students have done well. They have demonstrated great resiliency during this pandemic. Right now, everyone is working as best they can to keep schools open. Life will return to normal.
His receptive language is much higher. He can point to objects or follow one-step commands. For example, when I say “Where’s the ball?” with a book, he will point to it. And he will throw trash away if I ask him too as a one-step command.
Because my son is stuck in the one-word/babbling stage, seeing is important to his language development.
What role does sight play in learning language?
From the moment children are born, they are imitating our facial expressions. Psychologists believe this imitation derives from our “mirror neurons.” One such imitation and expression is when an infant smiles around eight weeks old. They also imitate the manner of articulation from what they see and hear parents say. The imitations carry through an infant’s cooing and babbling stages. Babies will take turns in conversation of smiles, coos, gestures, babbling, and other actions. For example, if you stick your tongue out, a baby will copy that, but usually at a slower pace.
The School Mask Mandate
Ever since Utah Governor Gary Herbert ordered that all students wear masks (or face shields), I have wondered how this would affect my toddler with a significant speech delay who will be attending special ed preschool. He would probably be covered under the disability category, but I didn’t know. I figured I could do a face shield for my son and the teacher would be wearing only a face shield. I discussed this with the preschool speech therapist when she visited for extended school year visits. She hoped that it would only be face shields.
an individual engaged in an activity where the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication, including an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing while communicating with others, an individual who is communicating with an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing, or a teachers-student dyad participating in speech therapy, in which case the individual shall wear a face shield without a mask or use alternative protection, including a plexiglass or similar barrier;
I tried to get some clarification from my son’s previous preschool teacher during our extended school year conversations about this. She stated that students and teachers must wear masks from the last update. She didn’t seem to know anything about the exceptions for speech therapy. It seems there is a lack of communication about the exceptions.
Overall, I am very confused; some teachers are confused too. Because the rules change frequently, parents and teachers are both scrambling to figure this out. Preschool starts next week, so the kinks are yet to be determined.
Last week, I made five masks for each of my four sons to last a school week. I included my toddler because I don’t know exactly what is going on.
Amid the confusion, my older children have adjusted to school with masks. Maybe my youngest will adjust well too.
I am considering these clear masks for my son. I asked his new preschool teacher if she would wear one. She said she’d try it out. I will be purchasing one for her most likely. This will all cost more money, but I don’t know what to do. My son needs to see the teacher’s mouth in order to imitate speech sounds better. I believe he could copy some sounds, but not as accurately.
What can I learn from blind babies’ language development?
While writing this post, I realized that sight is not absolutely critical to learning language. For example, blind babies learn how to talk. I wondered how they learn to communicate. I found some answers on Family Connect. A blind baby learns more through touch and sound. An adult can put their babies hands on their lips or hands.
So masks will not stop my son from learning to talk, but it may make the process longer.
However, children are very resilient. Their plastic neurons forge new connections to adapt to the different learning circumstances.
This school year may be different, but children will still learn.
As a teenager, I often gazed at the moon and stars through my bedroom window. God’s creations bore witness of his love for me. I contemplated how I could personify this message in poetry.
I wrote my first draft entitled “I spill a moonbeam” during my high school freshman or sophomore year. The words came as a song. Whenever I shared this poem, I sang it. I sang this poem to a friend during a sleepover. She complimented my singing voice, which I had never considered as beautiful, just off-key.
My first draft reads thus:
I spill a moonbeam Across your face While you do dream Of a heavn’ly place.
I stream in sunshine Through your window, And yet you whine Of my sun’s glow.
I whisper to you, “I love you so! I really do.” Yet you don’t know.
I weep from above. I groan within: “Remember my love! Let yourself grin.”
Again my moonbeam Shines on your face While you do dream Of a heavn’ly place.
I showed this poem to another friend. She noted that the “do” felt repetitive. She wondered why people added “did” and “do” to poetry. I figured the “do” belonged in the first stanza because it kept the rhythm. I didn’t remove it.
A few years ago, I compiled a nature booklet that I hoped to sell on Amazon. I asked a retired English teacher from my hometown to look it over. She suggested removing the “do.” Here are her suggestions:
Screenshot by Author
I finally gave up the “do” for the next beta reader. Here are her suggestions:
Screenshot by Author
This revision still lacked the poignancy I wanted, so my mind percolated on how to improve the poem for the last few years. Last month, I finally wrote a revision late at night.
Here was my revision process:
Photo by Author
Photo by Author
Without further ado, here is the final revision of my poem:
My moonbeam shines on your face While dreams vanish without trace
My sunbeam streams through your window You toss, turn, and hide under a pillow
My breeze stirs your hair While you kneel in prayer
My raindrops fall on your head My tears, your fears soon shed
My moonbeam shines on your face Day to day, you grow grace to grace
In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen comments through her characters on how hackneyed the phrase "violently in love" is for her era. We have other phrases that have become almost meaningless from overuse around 200 years later.
"Common sense" has been co-opted since Thomas Paine used it in the campaign during the American Revolution. Merriam-Webster defines it thus: "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Dictionary.com includes more of innate virtue to common sense: "sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like; normal native intelligence."
"Common" is the word that is taken advantage of most. What is really considered common? Common is "normal" or "sound" or "practical." Truly it is in the mental dictionary of the speaker and listener. But "common" is different for each person's experience. Common sense is also mistaken for what the majority of the population wants. This phrase's hollowness struck me as I read Australians' comments and opinions about "common sense" in American newspapers and blogs this week. Americans "corrected" the Australians' misconceptions. Common sense in Australia is not necessarily common sense in the United States.
Politicians try to pass laws using "common sense" legislation. We have to consider what is really "common" in the rhetoric. But this is also the argument of everybody is doing it, so you should too. Sometimes, we need to stand apart from the crowd when it is a matter of principle, even if it is a lonely position.
My software engineer husband often talks about how hollow the word "professionalism" is in the business world. At his first job, multiple bosses defined "professionalism" according to whatever whim they wanted at the moment. I think of professionalism as no swearing, no sexually suggestive jokes, and business casual dress.
Merriam Webster defines professionalism: "the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person." So that just leads down the rabbit hole of what is a profession and a professional and conduct. I googled the word professionalism for the definition; multiple articles appeared with many ideas on the whole package of how to dress, ethics, being on time, continuing education, and so forth. Essentially, the meaning and execution of professionalism change from job to job and boss to boss.
Humans are a funny species. As far as we know, we are the only species that construct abstract ideas. With this abstraction, some words and ideas become very subjective. We can't concretely picture them or hold them. We just ruminate over the impossible.
How do you define common sense or professionalism?
