Chris Hardie » language

My YAPC::NA talk on framing and Perl

Chris — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:54:36 +0000

In June, a delegation from Summersault attended the YAPC::NA Perl Conference in Columbus, Ohio for a few days. My second YAPC conference, it was an interesting experience full of inside jokes, engaging discussions, more inside jokes, and good food.

I was only scheduled to give one presentation (“How to talk, or not talk, to your clients about Perl”) but after hearing some of the opening remarks at the conference that spent too much time and energy, IMHO, declaring that “Perl is not dead!” I signed up to give a new talk about possibilities for re-framing that sentiment.

You can view a video of the talk, or you can view my slides [PDF].

Mainstream media adopts the dehumanizing 'illegals' label

Chris — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:52:08 +0000

It was frustrating but not surprising to see today that CNN has joined the list of mainstream media outlets who have adopted the harmful framing offered up in the debate about the U.S. borders, by beginning to use the label of “illegals” in their reporting. It may seem like a relatively small difference between that and other commonly used terms, but I find it to be a particularly dehumanizing one.

When we group a whole bunch of people together into a single ambiguously defined but broadly used label, we make it much easier to separate ourselves and our sense of humanity from the individuals who make up that group, and their humanity. When we use “the illegals” or “the foreigners” or “the gays” or “the blacks” or “the liberals” or “the homeless” in a discussion about the standards or rules or expectations to apply to that group, the abstraction allows us to consider policy without really considering practice and consequences. The way we would act with someone standing in front of us can be disregarded altogether, and the way we think we should act according to experts and politicians and those with the loudest voices begins to take its place.

This is made even worse when stereotypes are perpetuated about the group, and negative but finely detailed false images of them are painted by those who would pursue particularly harmful or discriminatory practices against the group. Come on, you’ve heard them: “all illegals are…” and “the gays just want to…” and “the homeless won’t even…” and “liberals don’t know how to…”, repeated over and over again. This is how we learn to disrespect entire populations, ethnicities, and world-views without really knowing anything about them. This is how we learn to hate.

How does it change the conversation, then, when we say “illegal immigrants”?

Or when we say “people who are immigrating illegally”?

Or “men and women and children who are crossing the U.S. border illegally”?

Or “men and women and children who are crossing the U.S. border in hopes of finding something better for themselves and their families, in spite of attempts by others to keep them out”?

The more clear we are about the real human beings we’re discussing, and the motivations involved in their actions, the better discussion we can have about the issues at hand. And difficult though it may be, the more likely we are to be affected by the real people involved, instead of distanced from them through the use of an all-encompassing label. Yes, it’s harder and takes more thought and doesn’t sound as snappy in an article, but words matter, and I think we owe it to our fellow humans to be more precise.

I also think it’s a basic responsibility of the men and women who create the news media we consume to expose this disingenuous and harmful use of language; they certainly shouldn’t be perpetuating it themselves.

Please don't use "itch" as a transitive verb

Chris — Mon, 05 Jul 2004 23:31:55 +0000

Even though it’s apparently technically legitimate, one of my biggest pet peeves is the use of the word “itch” as a verb, as in “he itched the bug bite”. Blech. I double over and cringe in disgust. You scratch a bug bite, or an itch, or anything similar. You don’t itch it. The itch is what you scratch. If you can just follow that one simple request, we’ll get along fine.

More Words

Chris — Sat, 06 Mar 2004 01:47:14 +0000

I use more words than I should
More than I mean to
I wish I could just mumble
and be understood
Just smile quietly
And ignite a connection.

Words have meaning
But meaning is life force
And it’s a shame to
use it all up just
getting acquainted

When the real joy
Lies ahead
In the unsaid