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Response to Rabbi Segel

from It Isn't All That We Do by No Strings

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Letter by Harriette Wagner
Music by Igor Stravinsky

(image by Valentina Harper + Harriette Wagner)

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November 1987

In response to Rabbi Segel's letter of 10/28 regarding language and feminism, I'd like to make some observations.

I readily applaud those who "respect the dignity and legitimacy of women's rights". I, too, am a product of an education: "in which the proper use of the English language was a matter of primary concern". But at this juncture, the rabbi and I sharply part company.

I don't interpret The Bee's use (or anyone else's, for that matter), of gender-specific and inclusive language as a manifestation of "pseudo-sensitivity" toward women. Such usage appears to exhibit an understanding of the following concepts.

    1) Language is a living construct, properly adapting to changes in culture and values;
    2) the language in which we think structures our attitudes which, in turn, direct our behavior;
     3) women will not be viewed as truly equal to men until we remove the linguistic perspective establishing the male as the standard by which all things human are defined (man your post, manpower, manmade, mankind, for example) and women are as mere addenda, somehow aberrant to the norm.

 If we replaced the above exclusionary list with this one - woman your post, woman power, woman made, womankind, do you suppose that men might feel left out? Might such words, if intended to refer to all humankind, reflect a matriarchal system which has rendered men powerless, socialized them into submission, to female dominance while restricting the number of societal roles they are allowed to play?

Of course, feminism does not envision to the return of the matriarchy of ancient times, when God was a woman. Feminists, female and male, believe in the social, economic and political equality of the sexes, and the changes necessary to bring that about. I, for one, don't foresee the sky falling if a woman could earn a Spinster of Arts degree. But then I am a true feminist, not a hypocritical one.

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from It Isn't All That We Do, released December 13, 2019

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No Strings

No Strings is a Mother/Son duo recording a wide variety of original songs, jazz standards, rock/pop/country/folk songs + spoken word presentations.

Upcoming ME-related Shows:
5/8...Sierra Vista
5/9...Orchard Post
5/10...Bethal Lutheran
5/12...Oakwood Gardens
5/12...Countryside
5/13...Gateway Clovis
5/14...Cedar Creek
5/15...San Joaquin Gardens

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