Wednesday, March 10, 2004

I'm a Primitive Cowboy Without A Yacht, A Cult or A Brotherhood and The State Isn't My Landlord or N

Do you find any of the words in the title to this post offensive?  I don’t.  Well, did you know some individuals do find certain words in the title offensive?  Here’s Diane Ravitch, writing in the Wall Street Journal.

"In my book “The Language Police,” I gathered a list of more than 500 words that are routinely deleted from textbooks and tests by “bias review committees” employed by publishing companies, state education departments and the federal government. Among the forbidden words are “landlord,” “cowboy,” “brotherhood,” “yacht,” “cult” and “primitive.” Such words are deleted because they are offensive to various groups--feminists, religious conservatives, multiculturalists and ethnic activists, to name a few."

Then there’s this, also written by Diane.

"A college professor informed me that a new textbook in human development includes the following statement: “As a folksinger once sang, how many roads must an individual walk down before you can call them an adult.” The professor was stupefied that someone had made the line gender-neutral and ungrammatical by rewriting Bob Dylan’s folk song “Blowin’ in the Wind,” which had simply asked: “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?"

Reading things like this makes me want to go on a cussing tirade.  Sh*t, p*ss, motherf**ker, g*ddamned a**holes dumber than a box of hammers anyway.

Ravitch’s article is titled “You Can’t Say That."

Linked via Daniel Medley at Lobowalk.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/10 at 10:21 AM
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