Listening to The Today Programme this morning I was struck by the way language is used to influence one’s impression. In an item on young Chinese homosexuals who deceive their parents by going through a sham marriage ceremony between a male and a female homosexual, the phrase ‘gay and lesbian’ was used constantly. Not once did I hear the word ‘homosexual’.
It reminded me of the way the feminist movement used the term ‘single mother’ to blur the distinction between unmarried mothers and mothers who were divorced. This was done to confuse antipathy to the former with sympathy for the latter. As time passed, the word ‘mother’ was dropped to favour ‘single parent’, which has in turn been dropped for ‘lone parent’.
This was no accident, but a deliberate manipulation through language. It was the feminists who told us how important language was to our impressions, hence the suffix ‘man’ was dropped from numerous previously used titles. That this was no accident is shown by the conscious, sometimes silly, avoidance of the suffix. So, a few weeks ago Peter Tatchel spoke on radio of a ‘clergyperson’, while someone else used the term ‘dustpersons’. The word ‘pathetic’ comes to mind.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Hi Tom. I couldn’t agree with you more, it’s total madness and I loath it. Another case of ‘Stop the world, I’d like to get off now’
Should it be ‘mathetic’ or even better ‘perthetic’?
When someone refers to their ‘partner’ I wonder whether they are referring to their spouse, lover (straight, homosexual or lesbian) or business partner.
You’re right Toma – and it is a purely English, as in the language, thing. You can’t do it in an inflected language 🙂
Bugrit! Tom. My apologies.
We simply call them queers, male or female, there’s little problem down here.
And even though I have queer customers, and often , as a result work in queer circles I know of none who have children.
I know that his can be perhaps a contentious subject (well up where you lot live) I’ve just asked Mrs.S if she knows of any queer parents or children adopted by queers none, nil, zero.
Perhaps we’re exporting them 😉