August 2018 Newsletter

August 23, 2018

“In one portion of this study, the students who thought interests were fixed…thought it would provide ‘endless motivation.’”

“Part of being a concerned, conscious speaker of American English in these times is to get used to constant change and constant demands that we revise what we thought before.” —John McWhorter, Columbia University linguistics professor

“Someone can be insensitive, thoughtless, immature, mean and even aggressive without it being bullying.”

“If we don’t see ourselves in the writing, then it’s not inviting to us…There’s a limited range of stories that grow out of the classic Lego set of people.” —Cat Rambo, president of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America

“Changing the face of the period drama by featuring diverse characters in historically accurate storylines.”

“The controversy is more than a matter of ‘nan’ vs. ‘granny’…many worry that attempts to standardize Chinese will further erode the use and influence of local dialects.”

“If someone refers to themselves as ‘fat,’ don’t fall over yourself trying to correct them. Instead, ask yourself why you’ve attached a negative value to the word.”

“If you believe that Black women are ‘naturally’ strong, you are less likely to offer assistance or to address the ways they are oppressed.”

“When people encounter complexity, they become more curious and less closed off to new information. They listen, in other words.” —Amanda Ripley, journalist

“When an intelligent failure is buried or goes undiscussed, others risk repeating the exact same mistakes.”

“When we have…a strongly patriarchal understanding of God, that creates a world and a worldview that is more patriarchal and hierarchical. This then allows for abuse of women, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, and a sense of entitlement by men to women’s bodies.” —Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers, professor at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific

The “Find New Words” campaign is “trying to create new LGBTIQ+ identifying words and phrases in South Africa’s indigenous languages that are positive and affirming.”

“I think we can all benefit from using gender-neutral pronouns. I think the space to imagine yourself without the constrictions of either masculinity or femininity are huge.” —Son Vivienne, post-doctoral research fellow at RMIT University (Australia)

“Knowledge of foreign languages has been known to increase empathy and understanding, and we believe this goes hand in hand with more inclusive learning content.” —Myra Awodey, lead community specialist at Duolingo

“So what’s the problem with pink & blue? In our western culture, these colors come with the whole gender stereotype baggage…When we create a chart with pink & blue, we endorse gender stereotypes.”

According to social worker Elana Premack Sandler, “Language like, ‘Something very sad happened’ or ‘I have something that I need to tell you that’s really hard’ offers a frame that doesn’t sensationalize the death.”

In Case You Missed It

We’re happy to welcome writer, editor, and Lambda Literary Fellow Joanna Eng to the Conscious Style Guide team! In Joanna’s first article for us she explores the implications of non-Hawaiian Asian Americans identifying as hapa.

On italicizing non-English words, apologizing to clients, communicating assertively, disrupting racism in journalism, and more.

The Conscious Style Guide newsletter rounds up the best news and blog posts from the world of kind, compassionate, mindful, empowering, respectful, and inclusive language. Note: Spotlighting an opinion is not intended as an endorsement. Please send news tips to [email protected].

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