Yes, I know Rammstein isn’t exactly what you would call a feminist group, but there is a song that I like concerning American domination:
And one of the vector of this domination is the language.
This is one of the reason there are not that much posts on this blog: it takes me a lot of time to write in english, much more than writing in my mother tongue, and for a result which isn’t as good.
And I am not sure this is something all native english speaker realize. I mean, that really gives some advantage in discussion, because you don’t have to put as much efforts when you are writing something.
Now naturally this isn’t english speakers’ fault, and I am not suggestin that the blogosphere should blog in esperanto.
But what really frustrates me is when someone who doesn’t agree with me (e.g. in comments and such) start nit-picking at the vocabulary I am using because it isn’t exactly the good term and it has some wrong connotations that I can’t be aware of because this is not my mother tongue. And it really, really bothers me when it is someone who knows that I am not a native english speaker.
I mean, I don’t think that my mother tongue should be a reason not to correct me if I say something offensive, and I actually like when someone politely explains to me the meaning of some word that I shouldn’t use in a given context ; if blogging can allow me to improve my english level, that’s pretty cool. But when it is using someone’s awkwardness in a language in order to discredit her, I think it is very problematic and being oppressive.
Besides, I also think there are social level/educational level issues relating to vocabulary and capacities of written expression, even though on this side i must admit I am quite “priviledged” myself.
