And then there’s the insistence by the extreme wing of the liberal alter-establishment that the word ‘woman’ must be forbidden. Women must be referred to as ‘people who menstruate.’ Well, since only women menstruate, the two terms are entirely synonymous, so how can it matter which one you use? And isn’t it a little ironic that the term ‘people who menstruate’ simply affirms the fact that men and women are different?
But let’s move on to another possibility. What about familial nouns? Must there no longer be any mention of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts? They’re gender-specific, aren’t they? Must I now refer to my Aunt Alice as ‘my parent’s sibling, Alice’?
‘Which parent,’ you might ask. ‘Your father’s or your mothers?’
‘I’m not allowed to say.’
‘Well, was it your male parent’s sibling or your female parent’s? And was this sibling itself male or female.’
‘You must not use such terms. They are forbidden. The Reich has spoken and resistance is useless. But if you really must know, the parent was a person who did not menstruate and the sibling was one who did.’
And all I wanted to say was ‘I liked my Aunt Alice.’ Do you think we might have Gender Crime Gulags next? Looks like I’ll just have to take the risk.
(You know, I can’t help feeling that my heroes, the suffragettes, would be horrified if they knew that their sacrifices would lead to something as irrational, oppressive and unnatural as this. Must go up to Morpeth some time and see whether the soil on Emily Davison's grave looks disturbed.)
2 comments:
I can only hope that this movement leads to the widespread adoption of Latin, as it has nouns that can be both neuter singular and plural. We can then have a declension for every gender. Some may choose to adopt a name like "Agricola," which belongs to the first declension (usually reserved for feminine nouns) yet is masculine in gender. Things will be so much simpler then.
Well, well... ever the Renaissance Person, ever the repository of a rare dry wit. And it seems you've added another feather to your cap. I had no idea you were one of those crusty old creatures who know Latin and talk of declensions. I think the only time I ever heard the term was in an MR James story when the sorry victim of supernatural revenge was a Latin master at a private school (and whose body was found down a well in Ireland, incidentally.)
It's good to hear from you, Mad. You still hold a singular place in my little universe. But talking of places, my Blogger stats suggests you're now down among the Dixie guys in S Carolina. Have you changed horses, or is Google simply wrong as usual? And do extend my greetings to the Mater if you would.
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