I was talking on the phone with a reader, Todd, on the topic of gender-based marketing. In the course of the discussion, Todd asked, "Have we as a nation gone so PC that we need validations for the differences we see between men and women?"I've posted a few entries on this topic and a good arc can be found starting at Rich Media, Gender-Based Marketing and MicroTargeting and going through to Online Loyalty is due to...Gossip?. This topic is something I covered in more detail in my Gender Specific Marketing Discoveries presentation at the IMedia Agency Summit, and I explained to Todd that I often want to ask people taking a NextStage training in gender-based marketing, "Does anybody here not know there's a difference between men and women?"
I don't know the specific answer to Todd's question and it's a good one. I know that just today, in mapping out a prototype tool based on discussions with media people, I found myself fumbling over the wording of certain elements of the tool.
Just so you'll know, I'm not politically correct. I make no apologies for it. I use language as both a tool and a form of expression, and sometimes I use it just to use it because, as the Good Doctor Weber will tell you, there is a linguistic intelligence that, like life, will always find its way out.
The difference -- to me -- is that I don't like being told I have to use a claw hammer when I know a ballpine will do a better job. More plainly stated, don't expect me to use certain terms in order to guarantee no one is offended. Do I think we've gone too far into PC? Yes, I do. Do I think outbursts such as those recently in the news are examples of elocutory bliss? Certainly not.
Language evolves to convey the maximum amount of information in the minimum amount of time. More succinctly, Language evolves to increase the rate of information transfer. This is why various professions have their own jargons and why people unfamiliar with a given jargon get upset; they're being excluded whether that's the speaker's intention or not.
Language can be inclusitory or exclusitory. If inclusitory language is used in your presence, be like Groucho Marx; make sure you want to belong to the club granting you admission. If exclusitory, then (my opinion only) don't go where you're not invited. Insisting on imposing yourself where you're not wanted can be painful in more ways than one.
Neutralizing language -- PCing it or otherwise -- removes vital cues our psyches need in order to navigate life. To neuter language is to neuter ourselves and we do so at our own peril.
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