Definición de devengo

Recognizing that messages vary in cultural sensitivity is a great step toward developing confirming and avoiding disconfirming messages. Perhaps the best way to develop nonracist, nonhet- erosexist, nonageist, and nonsexist language is to examine the preferred cultural identifiers to use in talking to and about members of different groups. Keep in mind, however, that pre- ferred terms frequently change over time, so keep in touch with

the most current preferences. The preferences and many of the specific examples identified here are drawn largely from the findings of the Task Force on Bias-Free Language of the Association of American University Presses (Schwartz, 1995; Faigley, 2009).

Race and Nationality

Generally, most African Americans prefer African American to

black (Hecht, Jackson, & Ribeau, 2003); although black is often used with white, as well as in

a variety of other contexts ( for example, Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies, the

Journal of Black History, and Black History Month). The American Psychological Association

recommends that both terms be capitalized, but the Chicago Manual of Style (the manual used by most newspapers and publishing houses) recommends using lowercase. The terms

Negro and colored, although used in the names of some organizations ( for example, the United

Negro College Fund and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), are no longer used outside these contexts. People of color—a literary-sounding term appro- priate perhaps to public speaking but awkward in most conversa-

tions—is preferred to nonwhite, which implies that whiteness is the norm and nonwhiteness is a deviation from that norm.

White is generally used to refer to those whose roots are in European

cultures and usually does not include Hispanics. Analogous to African American (which itself is based on a long tradition of terms such as Irish American and Italian American) is the phrase European American. Few European Americans, however, call themselves that; most prefer their national origins emphasized, as in, for example, German American or Greek American.

Generally, the term Hispanic refers to anyone who identifies as belong- ing to a Spanish-speaking culture. Latina (female) and Latino (male) refer to

VIEWPOINTS A widely held assumption in anthropology, linguistics, and communication is that the importance of a concept to a culture can be measured by the number of words the language has for talking about the concept. So, for exam- ple, in English there are lots of words for money, transporta- tion, and communication—all crucial to the English-speaking world. With this principle in mind, consider the findings of Julia Stanley, for example. Stanley researched English-language terms indicating sexual promiscuity and found 220 terms refer- ring to a sexually promiscuous woman but only 22 terms for a sexually promiscuous man (Thorne, Kramarae, & Henley, 1983). What does this finding suggest about our culture’s attitudes and beliefs about promiscuity in men and women?

Interpersonal ChoICe poInt

Cultural Insensitivity

You inadvertently say something that you thought would be funny but that turns out to be culturally insensitive, causing offense to a friend. What are some of your options for making it clear that you would never intentionally talk this way?

persons whose roots are in one of the Latin American coun- tries, such as Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, or Guatemala. Hispanic American refers to U.S. residents whose ancestry is in a Spanish culture; the term includes people from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. In emphasizing a Spanish heritage, however, the term is re- ally inaccurate, because it leaves out the large numbers of people in the Caribbean and in South America whose origins are African, Native American, French, or Portuguese. Chica-

na ( female) and Chicano (male) refer to persons with roots

in Mexico, although it often connotes a nationalist attitude (Jandt, 2004) and is considered offensive by many Mexican Americans. Mexican American is generally preferred.

Inuk (plural Inuit), also spelled with two n‘s (Innuk and Innuit), is preferred to Eskimo (the term the U.S. Census

Bureau uses), which was applied to the indigenous peoples of Alaska and Canada by Europeans and literally means “raw meat eaters.”

The word Indian technically refers only to someone from India, not to members of other Asian countries or to the in- digenous peoples of North America. American Indian or Native

American is preferred, even though many Native Americans

do refer to themselves as Indians and Indian people. The word

squaw, used to refer to a Native American woman and still used

in the names of some places in the United States and in some textbooks, is clearly a term to be avoided; its usage is almost always negative and insulting (Koppelman, 2005).

In Canada indigenous people are called first people or first

nations. The term native American (with a lowercase n) is

most often used to refer to persons born in the United States. Although technically the term could refer to anyone born in North or South America, people outside the United States gen- erally prefer more specific designations, such as Argentinean,

Cuban, or Canadian. The term native describes an indigenous

inhabitant; it is not used to indicate “someone having a less developed culture.”

Muslim (rather than the older Moslem) is the preferred form to refer to a person who ad-

heres to the religious teachings of Islam. Quran (rather than Koran) is the preferred spelling for the scriptures of Islam. Jewish people is often preferred to Jews, and Jewess (a Jewish female) is considered derogatory. Finally, the term non-Christian is to be avoided: It implies

that people who have other beliefs deviate from the norm.

When history was being written from a European perspective, Europe was taken as the focal point and the rest of the world was defined in terms of its location relative to that continent. Thus, Asia became the East or the Orient, and Asians became Orientals—a term that is today considered inappropriate or “Eurocentric.” Thus, people from Asia are Asians, just as people from Africa are Africans and people from Europe are Europeans.

Affectional Orientation

Generally, gay is the preferred term to refer to a man who has an affectional orientation toward other men, and lesbian is the preferred term for a woman who has an affectional orientation to- ward other women (Lever, 1995). (“Lesbian” means “homosexual woman,” so the term lesbian woman is redundant.) Homosexual refers to both gay men and lesbians, and describes a same-sex sexual orientation. The definitions of gay and lesbian go beyond sexual

VIEWPOINTS Many people feel that it’s permissible for members of a particular subculture to refer to themselves in terms that if said by outsiders would be considered racist, sexist, or heterosexist. Some researchers suggest a possible problem with this—the idea that these terms may actually reinforce neg- ative stereotypes that the larger society has already assigned to the group (Guerin, 2003). By using these terms members of the group may come to accept the labels with their negative con- notations and thus contribute to their own stereotyping and their own deprecation. Others would argue that by using such labels groups weaken the terms’ negative impact. Do you refer to yourself using terms that would be considered offensive or politically incorrect if said by “outsiders”? What effects, if any, do you think such self-talk has?

Interpersonal ChoICe poInt

Discouraging Ethnocentricity

You’ve been dating a wonderful person for the last few months, but increasingly you are discovering that your “ideal” partner is extremely ethnocentric and sees little value in other religions, races, and nationalities. What are some things you can do to educate your possible life partner?

orientation and refer to a self-identification as a gay man or lesbian. Gay as a noun, although widely used, may be offensive in some contexts, as in “We have two gays on the team.” Because most scientific thinking holds that sexuality is not a matter of choice, the terms sexual orienta-

tion and affectional orientation are preferred to sexual preference or sexual status (which is also

vague). In the case of same-sex marriages, there are two husbands or two wives. In a male-male marriage, each person is referred to as husband and in the case of female-female marriage, each person is referred to as wife. Some same-sex couples—especially those who are not married— prefer the term “partner” or “lover.”

Age

Older person is preferred to elder, elderly, senior, or senior citizen (which technically re-

fers to someone older than 65). Usually, however, terms designating age are unnecessary. There are times, of course, when you’ll need to refer to a person’s age group, but most of the time age is irrelevant—in much the same way that racial or affectional orientation terms are usually irrelevant.

Sex and Gender

Generally, the term girl should be used only to refer to very young fe- males and is equivalent to boy. Girl is never used to refer to a grown woman, nor is boy used to refer to people in blue-collar positions, as it once was. Lady is negatively evaluated by many because it connotes the stereotype of the prim and proper woman. Woman or young woman is preferred. The term ma’am, originally an honorific used to show respect, is probably best avoided since today it’s often used as a verbal tag to comment (indi-

rectly) on the woman’s age or marital status (Angier, 2010).

Transgendered people (people who identify themselves as mem- bers of the sex opposite to the one they were assigned at birth and who may be gay or straight, male or female) are addressed according to their self-identified sex. Thus, if the person identifies herself as a wom- an, then the feminine name and pronouns are used—regardless of the person’s biological sex. If the person identifies himself as a man, then the masculine name and pronouns are used.

Transvestites (people who prefer at times to dress in the clothing of the sex other than the one they were assigned at birth and who may be gay or straight, male or female) are addressed on the basis of their clothing. If the person is dressed as a woman—regardless of the birth-assigned sex—she is

referred to and addressed with feminine pronouns and feminine name. If the person is dressed as a man—regardless of the birth-assigned sex—he is referred to and addressed with masculine pronouns and masculine name.

Guidelines for Using Verbal

Messages Effectively

Our examination of the principles governing the verbal messages system has suggested a wide variety of ways to use language more effectively. Here are some additional guidelines for mak- ing your own verbal messages more effective and a more accurate reflection of the world in which we live. We’ll consider six such guidelines: (1) Extensionalize: avoid intensional orienta- tion; (2) see the individual: avoid allness, (3) distinguish between facts and inferences: avoid fact–inference confusion, (4) discriminate among: avoid indiscrimination, (5) talk about the middle: avoid polarization, and (6) update messages: avoid static evaluation.

In document Lima, 7 de julio de 2021 (página 32-35)