Lozano-Reich and Cloud's article, The Uncivil Tongue: Invitational Rhetoric and the Problem of Inequality made many great points regarding speech and inequality. A specific section that stood out to me was Civility and Inequality. The article discusses civility in regards to equality and lack there of when considering marginalized groups. Lozano-Reich and Cloud acknowledge that historically, "dominant groups have repeatedly enacted civilizing strategies to effectively silence and punish marginalized groups" (Lozano-Reich & Cloud 2009, pg. 223). For example, "Antifeminists frequently appealed to masculine norms of 'civilization' to depict women as less civilized than men, less able to contribute to the advancement of the race’’ (Bederman, 1995, p. 121). With these things considered, it can be concluded that women were considered to be unequal to men and not able to intellectually contribute to conversation. The article also goes into situations where women are silenced or looked at to be "crazy" or "illiterate" due to what they looked like. This civility put and continues to put women below men in societal acceptance.
When I read about this civility in the article, I immediately connected it to my own experience in the workplace. This summer, I worked on a motorcycle sales team which was extremely male dominated. Most of the meetings I attended and projects I worked on were with male professionals that were double my age. In this environment, I felt that it was difficult to share my thoughts and suggestions. I felt a bit looked down on and that my thoughts were ignorant or irrelevant. Although I was never silenced, like women in history, I never felt that my contributions were heard. I am almost positive that this was true because I am a 21 year old woman. I know a lot of women that have felt unheard and unseen in the workplace, so to an extent, civility and inequality has never completely disappeared.
Bederman, G. (1995). Manliness & civilization: A cultural history of gender and race in the United States, 1880–1917. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
(2009) The Uncivil Tongue: Invitational Rhetoric and the Problem of Inequality, Western Journal of Communication, 73:2, 220-226
I really like your take on civility and inequality, especially with your explanation of how it affects women. It’s honestly really sad, considering the generation we are living in, that women are seen as indifferent compared to men. It has officially been over a century since we first received rights and it feels like we are still fighting for acceptance and equality. It’s almost as if some men use civility to keep women in the current status quo, could it be a way to contain us?
ReplyDeleteI’m sorry that you experienced that in your workplace. I’ve felt similar in other circumstances, and I agree with your statement that in certain situations “women were considered to be unequal to men and not able to intellectually contribute to conversations”. This makes me think of my closest friend who is currently majoring in computer science, here at UMN. She often expresses how difficult some days are for her because she feels she can’t speak up and overthinks her opinions and ideas because her classrooms are predominantly men, and they have often excluded her. Although it is well known that computer science is a male-dominated field, I feel it is unacceptable for them to make her feel the way she does sometimes, they're all studying the same major, how can gender make such a big difference in how they treat one another? What do we, as women, have to do to be treated fairly and not be seen so differently?