The Associated Press got into hot water over saying the term was offensive. Is it?
Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/ReutersPhotograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reutershat’s wrong with the French? You’ll get a different answer depending on who you ask – but, a lot’s wrong with the French. The stylebook, one of the most respected guides to the English language for journalists, recently tweeted that writers should avoid using “the” in phrases like “the disabled, the poor and the French” because “the” terms can be dehumanizing.
“The French” may not have been the best example to use, but the overall point the AP was trying to make was valid – I think it’s important to remember that among all the hilarity surrounding FrenchGate. The language we use to describe the world shapes how we think about the world; the way we describe groups of people affects how we treat them.
Not everyone seems to agree. The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof tweeted: “To say ‘the French’ is to dehumanize, er, the French? Really? I wish we on the left could spend less time fussing over language and more time trying to actually solve problems.” Hang on a second … not to fuss over language, but is theStylebook really on “the left”? I mean, I know it has strong views on capitalism, but I didn’t really think it had a political orientation.
Having said all that, I understand Kristof’s frustrations. Liberals and the left can occasionally overreach when it comes to inclusive language. Take the term Latinx, for example. A lot of highly educated liberals use the term as a gender-neutral way to talk about Hispanics/Latinos. However,
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