My name is Kelvin, and I\u2019m an asthmatic.<\/p>\n
And I don\u2019t care if people call me \u201can asthmatic\u201d.<\/p>\n
Last week, I wrote about the trials and tribulations of Mrs. H. having to observe a six-week period of mandatory voice rest. In that piece, I wanted to use the word \u201cmute\u201d as a noun to refer to the person who is not talking (or who cannot talk).<\/p>\n
Mrs. H. was concerned that referring to someone as \u201ca mute\u201d might be offensive these days, so off I went into the research vortex.<\/p>\n
The OED notes that is dated and offensive.<\/p>\n
An organization called \u201cInclusion in the Arts\u201d notes that the word \u201cmute\u201d is still used, but it is generally not preferred. (It doesn\u2019t say if it is the adjective or noun form that they\u2019re referring to.)<\/p>\n
According to Wikipedia, the terms \u201cmuteness\u201d and \u201cmutism\u201d both refer to the inability to speak, but make no comment on the correctness of any associated terminology.<\/p>\n
Several word, language and grammar forums include opinions from professionals and lay people, but needless to say, there is little, if any, consensus.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no advice that I can find in the Chicago Manual of Style, The Canadian Press Stylebook, The Canadian Style, or New Hart\u2019s Rules.<\/p>\n
So in an attempt at compromise, Mrs. H. suggested that I use \u201cthe muted one\u201d as a humorous label.<\/p>\n
But I was vexed at being unable to use yet another civilized word.<\/p>\n
My personal opinion is that many so-called \u201cincorrect\u201d or \u201cnon-inclusive\u201d or \u201coffensive\u201d terms are labelled as such by those to whom the term in question doesn\u2019t apply, but who are expressing offence on behalf of those who are. I suspect though, that those people haven\u2019t necessarily consulted with a cross-section of the group to whom the term does apply. (In fairness, nor have I though.)<\/p>\n
Cultural appropriation seems to be one such category where my opinion may apply. I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019ve written previously on this, so I won\u2019t go any further.<\/p>\n
During my research on \u201cmute\u201d as a noun, I came across an article that gives examples of terms that might be inappropriate, one of which was \u201casthmatic\u201d. The article states, \u201cSure the people might be asthmatic\u2026 but that\u2019s not who the people are. Their disease does not define them.\u201d<\/p>\n
I call BS. It does<\/em> define them. But not on its own<\/em>. Let me explain, using my own disease\/disability\/condition to illustrate.<\/p>\n I have asthma. But even writing \u201cI have asthma\u201d seems weird to me. I\u2019ve had it since I was 18, and likely before then. It\u2019s a chronic condition\/disease; it\u2019s not something I have\u2014it\u2019s something that I live with\u2014it\u2019s something that I \u201cam\u201d. Saying that \u201cI have asthma\u201d doesn\u2019t seem to me to fit the circumstance. I normally say, \u201cI\u2019m asthmatic\u201d, or occasionally, \u201cI\u2019m an asthmatic.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m an asthmatic, but I\u2019m not only an asthmatic. And that\u2019s where I think people are allowing themselves to get their noses put out of joint. (I was going to use the phrase \u201cbent out of shape\u201d but thought that someone might look for an unintended pun in the use of the phrase and get all offended and such.)<\/p>\n It really is time that people stopped reading unintended meaning into such terms. I\u2019m a Cub Scout leader, and people refer to me as that, but it doesn\u2019t define me; it identifies one demographic grouping to which I belong. I\u2019m a control freak, and people refer to me as such, but it doesn\u2019t define me; it identifies another demographic group that I belong to.<\/p>\n To put it another way, we all have roles, attributes, peculiarities, and other defining characteristics. Being an asthmatic is one of mine, as are being a Cub Scout leader, control freak, male, father, husband, back sufferer, Canadian, worrywart\/worryguts, and curmudgeon. It seems ridiculous to say that I\u2019m a person with control issues, or a person with male chromosomes, or a person with parental or spousal responsibilities or a person with curmudgeonness\u2026<\/p>\n To use yet another illustration, imagine drawing a Venn diagram showing Asthmatics, Curmudgeons, Cub Scout Leaders and Canadians<\/span> people who are asthmatic, people who are curmudgeonly, people who are Cub Scout leaders, and people who are Canadian. I would be one of the people represented by the area where all four circles overlap.<\/p>\n There. I\u2019ve defined myself with four attributes. And I don\u2019t mind people using nouns to describe me as a member of each of those four categories.<\/p>\n My asthma is a fact. It\u2019s one of hundreds of defining characteristics. Calling me an asthmatic is a linguistic convenience, not an insult.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a beautiful Christmas song called, \u201cMary Did You Know\u201d. The lyrics include the lines, \u201cThe blind will see \/ The deaf will hear \/ The dead will live again \/ The lame will leap \/ The dumb will speak\u2026\u201d The words are succinct. But by today\u2019s standards, they must surely be offensive. What\u2019s the PC Brigade\u2019s take on this one?<\/p>\n And do they happen to know how BTW: I was born in the UK. If you must refer to my Britishness, please do so by calling me \u201ca recovering Brit\u201d. But call me just a Brit, and I will<\/em> be offended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My name is Kelvin, and I\u2019m an asthmatic. And I don\u2019t care if people call me \u201can asthmatic\u201d. Last week, I wrote about the trials and tribulations of Mrs. H. having to observe a six-week period of mandatory voice rest. In that piece, I wanted to use the word \u201cmute\u201d as a noun to refer to the person who is… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[488,77],"tags":[407,408,219,401,406,10],"class_list":["post-721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bbs","category-rant","tag-asthmatic","tag-curmudgeon","tag-labels","tag-mute","tag-offence-by-proxy","tag-political-correctness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Labels<\/h1>\n
the dead<\/del> people who are dead feel about being defined by their deadness? Have they consulted them? Would they care to speak on their behalf?<\/p>\n