Language Progresses, For Better And Worse

We are living in an era of radical social and political change. Part of that change is the healthy evolution of language, and an associated degeneration of the same language. Examples include the abuse of terms like “anti-Zionist” and “antifascist.” Supporters believe they understand the words but often deliberately misuse them for political purposes, while their adversaries deliberately twist their meanings around to more fully suit their own purposes. While this process is always occurring, it accelerates during times of rapid social change.

There are many battles, including gay men who hate the word “cis,” which I’ve discussed before, but today I will focus on two other examples – “transgender” and “racist.” First, to transgender. The word evolved from transsexual to remove “sex” from the minds of people who heard the word. This was done in the footsteps of the successful replacement of homosexual with gay, as homosexual was a word which implied sexual acts and ignored the humanity of those persons. Both rebrandings were enormously successful.