WGSS CR #2

I think that there's a power that comes from language- what people see and feel is severely limited by their language and the definitions that come with it. What Powell's "Listening to Ghost" really hits on is this idea of power in language.

For example, some languages (like Spanish) have many different types of words that describe different types of affection whereas English primarily uses the word "love" for things, even things that DON'T  fit that definition. I think that the use of language is important in discerning what people mean- differentiating expressions and translating that into a form other people can understand- but it also limits the types of feelings that can be expressed as well. It puts emotion into boxes and tells us "this is what it is." Even contextually, the overuse of these words that used to hold such extreme meaning now sort of distances them from the way their definition meant for them to be. When you tell a person you love them, does the over-use of this word for other things take away from its deeper meaning? I think yes. Louis C.K. puts it best:

As humans, we waste the shit out of our words. It’s sad. We use words like “awesome” and “wonderful” like they’re candy. It was awesome? Really? It inspired awe? It was wonderful? Are you serious? It was full of wonder? You use the word “amazing” to describe a goddamn sandwich at Wendy’s. What’s going to happen on your wedding day, or when your first child is born? How will you describe it? You already wasted “amazing” on a fucking sandwich

I think that the opposite can be true, too. Weight can be put on words and definitions, such as "gay" or "queer." Society artificially elevates certain words and lowers others through their context- having a name for an identity boxes a person in, I think, instead of letting that person be.

Part of it comes from this need-to-know in society about anything queer- for some reason, cis straight people get anxious when people deviate from their internalized "norm" and causes anxiety. This leads to names and definitions for sexualities that box people in instead of allow people to feel the way they feel. Freely.