Re: [Marxism] prostitutes and whores

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo <kklcac@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I don't know whether I can contribute anything positive to this thread,
but I would like to try.

Our language is shot through with class and national and other biases.
For example, take the word "villain":

"The etymology of the word is probably Middle English villein from Old
French vilain, in turn from Late Latin villanus, meaning serf or
peasant, someone who is bound to the soil of a villa, which is to say,
worked on the equivalent of a plantation in late Antiquity, in Italy or
Gaul. Consequently, it meant a person of less than knightly status, and
so came to mean a person who was not chivalrous"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villain#Word_origin).

The class bias of the language assumed that the *villein* were
villainous while the "nobles" were, well, "noble." Should we give up the
word villain on that account? I don't think so.

On the other hand, there are words that are not as etymologically
problematical that I think we *should* eschew--the word "niggardly is
one.

On my job, my closest co-worker and friend was African American. I
realized that I used the word "boy" in a way that could be offensive.
I'd say, "Boy, it's hot out today"--and then I realized how extremely
offensive that could be, and I apologized (we could talk frankly), and
he was taken aback: He never viewed it the way I self-consciously viewed
it.

So, I think we should be sensitive--and we shouldn't hesitate to
criticize language that is questionable or worse, but I think we should
realize that we are all walking in a minefield here.

I recently sent an email to a friend urging her to take a more
"bohemian" attitude towards housekeeping. Was my use of the term
"bohemian" bad? I don't know. I wondered about it as I wrote it.

But what about the use of the term "slave"? It's etymologically related
to the word "Slav."  Should we disavow it because of that? I don't think
so.

I think this thread is dealing with very difficult questions, and
although I think the semantic question is important, I think we need to
focus on what should be key for us as materialists.

I?d like to think this will help, but I fear it will just fan the flames
more.

?Kevin

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