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<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nA very short play (or maybe a future comic strip, if I think of a punchline):<\/p>\n
SHERMY<\/em>: Now, what William here proposes we increase widget production.
\nBILLY<\/em>: Actually, it’s “Billy,” if you don’t mind.
\nSHERMY<\/em>: I think I like “William” better. It seems more accurate to me.
\nBILLY<\/em>: “Billy” is accurate – the two words mean the same thing.
\nSHERMY<\/em>: You’re wrong, because “Billy” might also refer to a goat. Or a policeman’s club. Or maybe the 1969 musical, or the short-lived Steve Guttenberg situation comedy on CBS. Oh, my god, what about Billy Beer? What if I say “go get Billy!” and my assistant gets me a beer? The word “Billy” is just too confusing to be understood.
\nBILLY<\/em>: Look, we’re talking about what I’m called. My preference should be deferred to.
\nSHERMY<\/em>: Yeah, but I’m the one who has to call you something.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nAlthough Billy is right on the merits, the merits are secondary. This is a conversation about power and respect. Billy would like to have enough power and respect to be seen as an equal, and one way he can test that is by asking others to call him “Billy” instead of “William.” As Billy moves up in the organization and has more power and respect, fewer and fewer people will call him “William.” (His mom still will, though, because you never have so much power and respect that your mom can’t call you whatever she wants to.)<\/p>\n
Shermy, in contrast, wants to demonstrate that he still has more power and respect than “William,” and one way of doing that is by refusing to defer to Billy’s sensibilities on what Billy should be called. <\/p>\n
This is a debate that has happened over and over. Remember when right-wingers bitterly objected to the terms “people of color” and “African-American”? Years before that, the same people were clinging to the word “negro.” In 1995, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, during an interview, called Barney Frank “Barney Fag,” and then – crucially – had to apologize. In the 1970s, for adults to expect to be called “women” instead of “girls” seemed like a big deal. I myself am still struggling to purge the word “lame” from my vocabulary.<\/p>\n
Every marginalized group faces this fight – do they have this most basic level of power and respect, the ability to decide how they will be referred to in civilized discussion? <\/p>\n
And the steps forward are often small and marginal. The AP has revised its style guide<\/a>, and will no longer use the term “illegal immigrant”:<\/p>\n
illegal immigration<\/b> Entering or residing in a country in violation of civil or criminal law. Except in direct quotes essential to the story, use illegal<\/i> only to refer to an action, not a person: illegal immigration<\/i>, but not illegal immigrant<\/i>. Acceptable variations include living in<\/i> or entering a country illegally<\/i> or without legal permission.<\/i><\/p>\n
Except in direct quotations, do not use the terms illegal alien<\/i>, an illegal<\/i>, illegals<\/i> or undocumented<\/i>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It’s a step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A very short play (or maybe a future comic strip, if I think of a punchline): SHERMY: Now, what William here proposes we increase widget production. BILLY: Actually, it’s “Billy,” if you don’t mind. SHERMY: I think I like “William” … Continue reading