Of Words and Women

Of Words and Women

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There is an old saying that plays something to the tune of, "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me." It is possible that such a phrase was popularized in order for people to equip themselves with a psychological defense against the reality that words can, in fact, have a tremendous amount of significance depending on their usage and context. The careful manipulation of language in essays, for example, is one way that words can be arranged and exploited. This is a tool that authors will often use to reach a specific audience.

Like so many authors, Anne Richardson Roiphe exercises this technique in her 1972 essay in the New Yorker, entitled "Confessions of a Female Chauvinist Sow." One way in which Roiphe orchestrates her scheme in the essay is through the use of specific pronouns, such as "us," "we," "they," and "you" to establish a rapport-like connection with female readers. The effect of this subtle device is that Roiphe is able to directly communicate with other women, enabling her to transmit her personal thoughts and feelings with readers as if they were actually having a conversation. The twist, of course, is that Roiphe is also able to take advantage of this connection to spread her message of gender equality at the same time.

But if this is Roiphe's purpose, why is she concerned about sex equality in the first place? Consider her childhood: Roiphe was born in 1935, raised in the middle of the Great Depression, and closed out her first decade of life at the end of World War II. Roiphe would have seen women rise from the devastation of national disaster to take several places in factories and workshops, where many women worked during the war while the men were deployed for combat. Furthermore, Roiphe would have been introduced to one of the first female authority figures in First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. As Roiphe reached adulthood, she would have been immersed in a culture torn apart by civil rights issues, Vietnam arguments, and crusades for personal liberties. It is a culture that would have nurtured feelings of both resentment and pride.

The women's rights movement was one such campaign that emerged from this turbulent era.

Women, of course, had been historically shunned and excluded from next to all aspects of society outside the home.