February 2, 2007
Language Department
What's in a Name? – The Power of Language
There's been a lot of media coverage lately about a certain f-word. A tremendous amount of power is being given to this word.
Just to recap, in case you hadn't heard: In October, on the set of Grey's Anatomy, Isaiah Washington referred to T.R. Knight as a homosexual epithet while having an argument with Patrick Dempsey. T.R. Knight came out several days later, saying he was gay and hoping that there were more interesting things about him than that.
A few weeks ago at the Golden Globe awards, Isaiah Washington grabbed the mike at a backstage interview and said, "I never called T.R. a f****t." Needless to say, this went over very poorly with the cast and execs of Grey's Anatomy, not to mention GLAAD and other gay, lesbian, and civil liberties groups. Many were calling for the termination of Washington, but the latest is that he has attended anger management counseling, since he says his problem is being "hot-headed" not homo-phobic.
I do not advocate Isaiah Washington's actions at all. No one should have to be uncomfortable in their workplace. However, this is a matter to be handled internally, by Washington's employers - not to be played out in the media.
This isn't really even a matter of free speech. This is an instance of a word, mere air and vibrations, being given more power than it should have. We assign the meaning to these sounds and it is the listener who decides how this particular group of sounds is going to affect them or make them feel. Sticks and stones, etc. Words only have power if we decide to give it to them.
If we were to somehow ban words like "f****t" or the "n-word", it would not change what is in the hearts of the people who speak them. If they hate homosexuals or blacks, they are not going to stop hating them or change their behavior just because they can't say the words. And how do you really know for an absolute certainty what is in Isaiah Washington's heart/mind or anyone's for that matter? And if you start banning words, where do you stop? (Will we one day develop the ability to ban thoughts?) Then it does become a matter of free speech.
I'm not saying people should go around yelling these words at each other, I'm just saying that if you don't show how much you let the words bother you and stop calling even more attention to it, the words will lose their power.
(I get the irony of the fact that I have not actually used the words mentioned, but I wanted to keep this office friendly.)
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