It’s more recently come to my attention, that words are used
a lot more synonymously. Majority of us use synonyms to either replace a word
or to simply make ourselves seem smarter. Although synonyms are now more
frequently attached to either gender or religion. By way of ‘pussy’ and ‘dick’
being synonymous for strength/weakness and Islam likened to terrorism.
The gender association has been in more recent debate. The
‘pussy = weakness’ argument is completely arbitrary. As the strength that a
woman has simply in her reproductive organ should not be regarded as weak,
likewise, having a dick does not mean you are stronger (cue Merkle, who as a
woman is stronger than most all male politicians ‘I think that a woman as
chancellor can also serve as a good example’.) By attaching strength symbol to
men simply reproduces a patriarchal society run on BULLSHIT! Furthermore, why are we even associating the words with
gender? Rather than synonyms the words ‘pussy’ and ‘dick’ should standalone.
Rather the basis of strength and weakness is formed by sexism.
The aspect of religion is a touchy subject, as it commonly
has negative connotations. As time progressed less people have either given up
on religion or perceive it as a form of state control. The most commonly
associated religion there is is Islam. As the growth in extremism and terror
attacks the followers of the religion have been subjugated and ostracised.
The Islam synonym grew out of the September ‘11 attacks when
terrorism was no longer attached to the likes of Che Guevara. The bombs that occurred were created out of
these bombings and the unrestrained involvement of America on foreign soil. The
fundamental basis of these attacks was formed on extremism which people fail to
realise. The generalisation occurs when
outlets such as local news stations and papers do not make the distinction
between believers and extremists (I’m looking at you Fox and CNN.) This
negativity has been extended insofar that the oppression of Muslim women is
presented as another reason why everyone should hate Islam. With organisations
such as FEMEN claiming that all Muslim women are oppressed and need to be
liberated (I never thought I needed to be ‘liberated’.)
Lila abu Lughod’s piece named ‘Do
Muslim Women Really Need Saving?’ addresses the issue of
liberation/oppression better than I could. The entire problem with this synonym
is that the distinction that NOT ALL
MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS is not properly portrayed to the public; people
still undermine Obama’s presidency because he had an ‘Islamic’ background.
In essence,
synonyms seem to have dual purposes. Whether it is due to a gendered
association, or making a generalisation, they present detrimental consequences.
The point of this was to address that individuals should use synonyms
correctly.
E
No comments:
Post a Comment