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Re: Generic Masculinity
ray scupin (scupin@LC.LINDENWOOD.EDU)
Fri, 6 Jan 1995 13:24:12 -0600
Dear Colleagues:
I am also disappointed that the terms "Man" and "Mankind" are
still being used to refer to the species. However, I also believe that
we can take these PC norms too extremes. For example, I noted that
Coretta Scott King, in her address to the recent AAA meetings in Atlanta
published in the AAA newsletter, sprinkled her essay with the term
"mankind" to refer to humanity. Is anyone going to accuse her of being a
chauvinist?? I think that as anthropologist we need to tolerate some
flexibility in language use. We tend to do it when we are doing our
ethnographic work. We need to extend that tolerance to the use of
language within our own society. I'm not suggesting going back to
archaic usages. But we need to consider the historical and cultural
context of usage.
Ray Scupin
Sociology/Anthropology Dept.
Lindenwood College
209 S. Kingshighway
St. Charles, MO 63301
314-949-4730 (Office)
314-949-9244 (Home)
314-949-4730 (Fax)
Not chaos-like, together crushed and bruised,
But, as the world harmoniously confused:
Where order in variety we see,
And where, though all things differ, all agree
Alexander Pope
"Windsor-Forest."
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