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: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > 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: >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/ -- Christine Reintjes Martin [log in to unmask] _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ 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/