WORDS

      Perhaps I am a little behind the times when it comes to news, being a busy college student and all, but this article from the New York Times caught my attention, even if a little after the fact. It's about criticism they incurred after initially covering the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State. I think that the criticism is totally on point and that there should be more awareness drawn to the language we use not only when talking about rape and sexual assault, but all forms of sexual activity. 

     I spend a great deal of time thinking about language, connotation, and what words mean, if they can really be said to have a static meaning at all. When it comes to sex, words are highly charged, and the ways we refer to sex speak a lot to society's general attitude towards a sexual act. People don't like to hear or admit that we (in the U.S.) live in a culture of rape... but it's true. I'd welcome any opposing argument. Just look at the words we use to describe sex: boning, banging, fucking, slamming, screwing, mounting, laying, riding, humping.... I could go on. Not only do these words often evoke a violent connotation, they present sex as an act a man does to a woman, and when appropriated to men who have sex with men, imply violence of a more active man onto a passive (therefore presumably more feminine) man. Although same sex female couples are capable of using these terms and penetrating each other in a variety of ways, the language around sex largely ignores same sex female sexual relationships, and often silences the idea of women's sexuality and pleasure entirely. 

     Now, I will say that I think it's a great thing to have multiple ways to name sex, as there are many different kinds of sex, and I will even advocate the use of some of the aforementioned terms. Fucking is a whole different breed of sex than making love in my book, and as a woman I have said "Yeah I fucked him" referring to a specific kind of sex with a male partner, however I'm not saying that it's right or free of possibly harmful meaning. 

     When the element of sexual assault or rape is added into the mix these messages and words become even more complicated; using the term sexual assault when rape is present, but omitting rape for whatever reason, is unacceptable regardless of who the survivors or perpetrators are. These words hold power and should be used responsibly and correctly when reporting on such serious cases as that at Penn State, but they should also be understood and used correctly by the general population in acknowledging the realities of our own sex lives and the sexual climate that we live in. 

     I know there is a lot that I've brought up here, and trust me, there will be future blog posts that touch on these subjects, but I feel that this is a particularly timely issue considering how much media coverage the Penn State Scandal has acquired. But the culture we live in is perpetuated by language, so pay attention to how vernacular and bits of language we take for granted reinforce ideas of patriarchy, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and rape and sexual assault.