Hey reader, have you ever thought deeply about language?<\/p>\n
How I put the letters c-a-t together and somehow you can connect them and have a notion of a cat I’m referencing. Surely the connection between the each letter in \u00a0language is harmless, right? While most may gloss over the question and agree quickly, I truly believe Eli Clare would disagree, and assert that words can bear a burden that can be only defined by those who identify with said word. Confusing yet?<\/p>\n
To have a point of entry, I will be referencing Clare’s chapter titled “Losing Home”. Throughout the chapter, specific words are\u00a0italicized,<\/i> adding an emphasis to them and drawing the reader’s attention, such as\u00a0queer, exile, class, dyke, redneck, shame,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0embarrassment<\/i>. Although each word has a particular definition and specific part of speech, each provide Clare with a sense of identity. At the same time, these words provide each of us as readers an entirely different definition that we apply to ourselves. Clare even says himself, “I know the definitions. I need to enter the maze created by dyke identity, class location, and white rural roots” (32). Analyzing this one sentence alone, Clare is well aware of what words mean, but, at this point, is unaware of how they feel as a lived experiences. I want to pull these words out of the text and ask the question of what do these words mean to you? For some, words provide a sense of security or a revelation for their personal identity, where Clare would sit in the argument.<\/p>\n However, this inadvertently raises a set of problems. What about when labels are used negatively? I can speak for myself and my own experiences. I would never know what it meant to be manipulated if I did not do the research myself. This label of manipulation, allowed me to come to the realization that I was in a controlling and abusive relationship for three years. I could have spent three years of my life putting my efforts elsewhere, and by knowing what was happening to me, I do believe I saved my own life. With this being said, I never want to be called a victim. I’m in a healthy relationship, good grades, in good health, and am the first in my family to attend college. I am anything but a victim in my eyes. I am not defined by my past relationships. The same way many in the LGBTQ+ community wish not to be defined by their gender identity, sexuality, or otherwise. So what? Does this mean that words mean nothing or everything? I wish there was an answer written in black and white to point to, but to be utterly honest, I believe the answer lies in each of us. For Clare, words are powerful tools, used by all. For me, words are tools, that I use for myself and myself only. I really hate labels, what about you?<\/p>\n Your favorite crime,<\/p>\n JAY WALKER<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hey reader, have you ever thought deeply about language? How I put the letters c-a-t together and somehow you can connect them and have a notion of a cat I’m referencing. Surely the connection between the each letter in \u00a0language is harmless, right? While most may gloss over the question and agree quickly, I truly … Continue reading Words are Everything and Nothing. Let Me Explain.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[346798],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2023-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/everythinginbetween\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}