<!doctype html public "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN">
<html><head><style type="text/css"><!--
blockquote, dl, ul, ol, li { padding-top: 0 ; padding-bottom: 0 }
--></style><title>Re: [GALA-L]</title></head><body>
<div>I was thinking of it as an educational tool in training
volunteers at Austin's women's shelter. These trainings are
(among other things) a form of intervention (some new volunteers are
well-meaning but relatively uninformed). The woman who runs the
volunteer trainings at our shelter thought it might be useful.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>On my last visit to Calgary (in Canada), I noticed that short
films with public service messages are being played before the main
features at movie theatres. One I saw had an environmental theme
(e.g. emphasis on simple things all of us can do to conserve
resources), another had an "anti-bullying" theme, and seemed
to be aimed at adolescents. The video we saw might be a bit
stark to play in an entertainment context (?) but something less
aggressive might fly.</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>It could be a "warning" type
film for young adults, but even then it might be met with a response
like "oh, I'd never let that happen". It's an
interesting question, though, who the audience is for this.
Mothers who should be leaving their abusive husbands? Policy
makers who need to pay more attention to this issue? Abusive
spouses to see the effects on their children?</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Sarah</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>Teachers in training, who might encounter children from abusive
homes? University students, in various kinds of classes (public
policy? Rhetoric? Media studies? Sociology? Public health?
...)? Medical personnel, and those in other helping
professions?</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>- Megan</div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><br>
<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>----- Original Message ----<br>
From: "Campbell, Heather" <hecampbell@CSU.EDU.AU><br>
To: GALA-L@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG<br>
Sent: Sunday, May 4, 2008 7:03:52 PM<br>
Subject: Re: [GALA-L]<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>I agree, Laura. I have found this
discussion very interesting, and I certainly accept the cultural
differences that are in play here, but my concern was not about the
language in terms of its 'foulness'; I'm not particularly
squeamish about letting a swear word fly, even in front of my four
year old daughter. But never *<b>at</b>* her, and I think it is the
combination of the actions and the language used as if directed at a
person that made me uncomfortable for the child.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> <br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>The language used and violence depicted
does make the film somewhat problematic if it is intended for use as
an educational tool. I would certainly not be allowed to show such a
film in primary (elemental) school, and there may be difficulties in
getting it shown in secondary school. But I may well use it with the
tertiary education students I teach, and get their responses. I have
shown several of my colleagues, and they have each had a similar
reaction to mine, in that their concern for the child overshadowed
their agreement with the anti-abuse message contained within the
film.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> <br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Thank you to everyone who has contributed
to this discussion; much food for thought.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> <br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Heather<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Australia<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> <br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><b>From:</b> International Gender and
Language Association [mailto:GALA-L@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG]<b> On
Behalf Of</b> Laura Tolton<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, 4 May 2008 12:48 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> GALA-L@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [GALA-L]<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> <br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Several comments have focused on
"strong language" and how shocking this is depending on
what culture we use to understand it. Let's not lose sight of
the fact that this is a portrayal of abuse, both physical and
verbal/emotional. The individual words used may be strong or
not, but the message, the actions and the implications are essential
to understanding the film. The words used don't have to be
particularly strong-there is a strong message. The message from
the girl to her doll is in fact quite typical of messages communicated
in abusive marriages, in examples I have knowledge of from both
Colombia (Bogotá) and the United States (small town, Midwest), as
well as what I have learned from readings about abusive talk in other
places. *Swearing* (which occurs in the English translation more
than the Spanish version) is not what makes something abusive or
not!</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"Being direct, argumentative and
coming out strong is a positive thing and children are exposed to and
learn to use fighting words early".<br>
In response, I have to say that I cannot believe that this use of
language somehow empowers the girl-she is acting out abuse, as if she
were her father! Sometimes the message communicated through
actions is easier to understand as abusive than a message communicated
using words. If we consider the girl rubbing the doll's face in
the food, is that empowering the girl? Whether she is supposedly
learning to act like her mother or her father, I do not see how this
could be an empowering experience for her.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> <br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>
<hr size="1"></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Be a better friend, newshound, and
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. <a
href=
"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ "><span
></span>Try it now.</a></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<span
></span>~~~~~<br>
Megan J. Crowhurst, Ph.D.<br>
Associate Professor<br>
<br>
Graduate Advisor, Linguistics<br>
All advising email should go to megancrowhurst@gmail.com<br>
<br>
Snail mail address:<br>
<br>
The University of Texas at Austin<br>
Dr. Crowhurst<br>
Department of Linguistics<br>
1 University Station B5100<br>
Austin, TX 78712-5100<br>
USA<br>
<br>
Phone: 512-471-1701<br>
Fax: 512-471-4340<br>
<br>
My home page: http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~crowhurs/index.html<br>
Department home page:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/linguistics/<br>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<span
></span>~~~~</div>
</body>
</html>