Since I contributed heavily to creating the confusion, let me try to
reduce it. "The wife" is unquestionably the form more widely considered
offensive. It has a sort of Archie Bunker quality to it. However, I
was criticized for saying "my wife" on the ground that "my" is
possessive. My response was that "my" is genitive, only one of whose
functions is to show possession. Other examples clearly show some other
sort of relationship than possession. The reason for the criticism, I
think, was a narrow and ideologically-driven interpretation of the
English genitive.
Herb
Subject: Re: My wife versus the wife
I am confused about this discussion. I thought the offensive expression
was
"the wife" not "my wife."
I have never heard "the husband" used, so there is a sense of sexism
associated with this expression, in my mind at least.
But the expressions "my husband" or "my wife" seem totally innocuous to
me.
Christine Martihn
>From: "Stahlke, Herbert F.W." <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Rule of Thumb
>Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 08:28:07 -0500
>
>Paul,
>
>
>
>That was part of my response. I was told that "my husband" is not
>comparable because of the power differential. I argued that the
problem
>was a limited and politically driven understanding of the English
>genitive.
>
>
>
>Herb
>
>
>
>I wonder how the same people would react to your wife if she referred
to
>you as "my husband!"
>
>
>
>Paul
>
>"Stahlke, Herbert F.W." <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I must also admit that I've gotten into similar trouble for
>critiquing some of the canons of gender-neutral language, the worst
case
>being when I responded to criticism for referring to my wife as "my
>wife".
>
> Herb
>
>
> Subject: Re: Rule of Thumb
> I AM SOOOOO SORRY TO HEAR YOUR STORY!!! My deepest sympathies
to
>you
> and all who still think. And to think that academia was a
>bastion of
> critical thinking.
>
> Rebecca
>
> On Thursday, August 26, 2004, at 12:21 PM, Kathleen M. Ward
>wrote:
>
> > Rebecca,
> >
> > It's not that I don't agree with you. I do. However, if I
did
>any
> > of this stuff, I'd be fired. Being offended is enough for
>people to
> > lodge protests; it's the fact that the protest has been
lodged
> > (rather than the validity of the protest) that counts.
>Remember what
> > happened to the guy (was it in D. C.?) w! ho used the word
>"niggardly."
> >
> > After the Picnic Day fallout, I am a little sensitive on the
>subject.
> > I've also been called on the carpet by an associate dean for
>telling
> > a student that she "had to be willing to do the work" in
>class.
> >
> > It's a new, and not better, world.
> > KMW
> >
> >
> >
> >> On Thursday, August 26, 2004, at 11:32 AM, Kathleen M. Ward
>wrote:
> >>
> >>> When I used the term in passing in
> >>> class, people objected. They may be wrong, but they are
>offended.
> >>> And telling them that they are wrong does not make them
less
> >>> offended.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Are you saying that ignorance should now be able to dictate
>just under
> >> 400 years of actual usage? This political correctness has
got
>to
> >> stop.
> >> Tell your students that they are there to GET an education,
>not to
> >> reinforce wild-eyed misconceptions. And to lighten up a
>little.
> >>
> >> Rebecca Watson
> >>
> >> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the
list's
>web
> >> interface at:
> >> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> >> and select "Join or leave the list"
> >>
> >> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
> >
> > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's
>web
> > interface at:
> > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> > and select "Join or leave the list"
> >
> > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
> >
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's
web
>interface at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's
web
>interface at:
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> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
>
>
>"If this were play'd upon a stage now, I could condemn it as an
>improbable fiction" (_Twelfth Night_ 3.4.127-128). To join or leave
this
>LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
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>the list"
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>Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
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>
>To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface
>at:
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>Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
--
Christine Reintjes Martin
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