We are ALL “The Other”
How current discussions on Race, Gender, Sexuality, and other related issues are missing the point. The point is … Language.
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The goal of marketers, new media, and politicians is to create Controversy. There doesn’t need to be any substantive FACT behind the efforts. There only needs to be a fertile patch of the demographic landscape ready for the planting of the Seeds of Controversy. The key to creating Controversy is how language is used.
For example, the author of the article from the issue of Scientific American (from 2009) linked above could have more accurately used the title “EPA Announces Plan to Review Six Potentially Dangerous Chemicals.” That is the main reason that the chemicals are being reviewed. However, they chose to use the more seductive term “Controversy” because it suggests a juicy and potentially gossip-worthy public fight might be in tow.
When we hear talk about Race and/or Nationality, Gender, Sexuality, and other similar high-profile group-defining categories, we frequently see language employed that emphasizes the potentially controversial differences between individuals in those groups. The sad reality is that almost any individual can be, by one method or another, relegated to a group that could be defined as unusual or odd. Like the creation of Controversy, it’s all in how language is used that is the pivotal distinction.
This article linked above creates Controversy simply by presumptively defining a desired…
