Language, Gender and
Violence: An Inquiry
I have a friend, married some
years, whose spouse is very articu
late. So it used to be that when they
argued, my friend (who has trouble
expressing thoughts and feelings)
always took a verbal lashing. Very
hurtful things were said in such a
way that my friend felt absolutely
helpless and very much attacked.
Then one day, cornered and
angry and feeling defenseless, my
friend struck back physically, some
thing that had never happened
before.
Suddenly they both realized what
had been happening; the pattern
they had fallen into. Today they try
to work through things differently.
It’s true that the story empha
sizes the power of language. But
there’s another aspect of bis power
which I think I can demonstrate in
a question:
How does the abovestory change
if the one who struck the first blow
was a man — or a woman?
I have tried telling thisslory both
ways (it’s a true story but I change
the genders around) and have got
ten very different responses. Al
most without exception, women
have protested that the man was
wrong to hit his wife, but very few
havesaidthesame thing when they
thought it wasa woman whostruck
her husband.
Why?
If the given motives are accepted
as I stated them, why should there
be a different emotional reaction?
Violence is violence and it’s pos
sible to be very violent with words.
Is it simply impossible to impute
certain motives to men?Men’s reac
tions have been more mixed, but
quite a few have reacted similarly,
saying the man was wrong to hit
but the woman was defending her
self when she hit.
Let me give another example of
the power of gender in language.
It I were to claim that biology
dictates that men and women serve
significantly different roles in soci
ety, I set myself up for criticism,
even though the facts of birth and
. —■ ' ■ '■ 11 " ■ ■ I
child care are all too well known.
If I go on to claim that some of
the biological differences between
men and women include a higher
threshold of pai n and greater physi
cal endurance in women, some (by
no means all, but a significant
amount, I think) of the criticism
against my proposition vanishes.
If I keep on, however, and sug
gest that men are biologically more
likely to excel at higher mathemat
ics, I risk calling down a flood of
criticism for my ideas. Clearly I
should have quit when I was ahead.
Even now, some of my readers
have decided I’m saying something
derogatory about women. I sin
cerely hope I’m not.
We can’t avoid talking about
gender and continue to talx about
ourselvesTSo there must be some
way found to defuse the language
without unlearning the truths that
feminist criticism of language has
taught us.
Mark Baldridge la a senior English major,
and a Di versions contributor.
True friends are hard to find today,
but they can be found through God
In this daily walk of life, dis
covering an individual who con
tains the fruits of unselfishness,
confidentiality, honesty and self
esteem is difficult and seemingly
impossible. There lies a distinct
difference between an acquain
tance and a friend. Many of the
burdens carried by brothers and
sisters exist because of the mis
conception that when a person
acts friendly, it means that he or
she is a friend.
We are quick to judge one
another negatively or positively,
which only causes our backs to
become heavier, and our daily
walk transforms into a state of
non-advancement.
A friend is a gift from God, and
friendship is a relationship that
must be earned. God is a perfect
being, and through Him a friend
can be found. Because we are
quick to judge and much of our
trust is placed in acquaintances
— who often appear friendly
and yet have identities that arc
unknown — they have taken
away the true meaning of what a
friend is. Acquaintances have
caused the destruction of rela
tionships through shadiness
(two-faced people) and miscom
munication, intentional or unin
tentional. These so-called friends
create hurdles that defer the
progress of brothers and sisters
uniting to achieve a common
goal and to form meaningful,
everlasting relationships.
So what is a friend? A friend is
aware of what is important and
makes sacrifices for others when
necessary. For God will bless
according to His will. A friend is
a listener.
One can tell a friend personal
beliefs, opinions, and innermost
secrets because the information
will be seriously listened to —
but not run out the mouth—and
kept in the mind.
Throughout our lives, people
will come and people will go,
times will be haraand confusing,
and times will be full of rejoicing
and understanding. The storms
will rage and the billows will
blow, and the sun will shine and
the rays of light will lift up our
heads. And there will stand a
friend — for friends last forever.
Charles McClendon is • sophomore
finance major and a Diversions con
tributor.
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adoui one year ago, a group 01
artists left Marvel Comics to form
their own comic book company:
Image comics. Supposedly Marvel
had been holdi ng these a rtists back,
not allowing them to reach their
creative prime. These artists were
chained to their drawing tables,
forced to turn out a book on time,
and were paid a million dollars to
do so. Unnappy with these condi
tions, they formed Image, so they
could turn out their books when
ever they felt like it and still make
millions doing so. >4 1 •*-*•* k
~ ' • ' {'7
The books that Image has re
leased so far range from the OK
•Spawn," and "Wild CATS.," to
the downright pathetic,
"Youngblood," and "Brigade."
When Image was formed, a tremor
rippled through the comic book
inaustry, possibly signalling a Whole
new line of totally unique books.
Instead, all of Image’s books are
basic comics that could easily fit
right in with the Marvel or DC
universes.
The best book put out by Image
is “Spawn," written and drawn by
former Spiderman artist Todd
McFarlane. The hero, Spawn, is
quite uniaue. He was killed and
went to hell where he sold his soul
to the devil. His reasoning behind
this is that he misses his wife. The
devil sends him back to earth, but
five years has passed and now
Simmons (Spawn’s real name) is
horribly disfigured and has great
powers. The catch is that the more
he uses his powers, the closer he
comes to dying again. And to make
matters worse, Simmons was origi
nally black, and now he is white.
By the time Simmons returns to
earth, his wife has remarried. The
man she has married is the man
who killed Simmons in the first
piace.
AlthoughMcFarlanecannotwrite
very well, "Spawn” isn’t loo bad of
a book. His dialogue is long and
wordy , a (rue sign of someone who
hasn’t been trained in writing.
McFarlane has recognized this,
however, and has hired some writ
ers to do a scries of stories: Neil
Gaiman, Alan Moore, Dave Sim,
and Frank Miller will all write an
issue of “Spawn." Later in the year,
Grant Morrison will take over the
writing duties and Bart Sears yill
draw “Spawn," while McFarlane
works on a spin-off series.
Rob Liefeld, the guy who was in
the Levi commercials sometime ago,
is currently creating his own little
niche in the Image universe. So far,
the books that ne has created for
Image, “Youngblood" and "Bri
gade," flat-out suck. Liefeld’s writ
ing makes McFarlane look like
Ernest Hemingway. Although his
art is okay, the stories he presents
are of about a fourth-grade reading
level. Avoid them like the plague.
Image Comics biggest problem
seems to be shipping the books on
time. Most of the books have been
anywhere from a month to two
months late, and “Spawn" is the
only book that appears on a regular
basis. Also, they really need to take
the hint from McFarlane and hire
some real writers. Maybe then their
books will be worth reading.
If you enjoy meaningless fight
scenes with terrible dialogue, then
check out the Image books. If you
are looking for something with a
little substance, pass them on by
and pick up a Vertigo book.
William J. Harms Is an Arts and Enter
tainment reporter and a Diversions con
tributor.