Friendship
Sticky sweet
Velvety smooth
Violently lashing out
Words have power. The right words, puzzled together in sequence, have the power to paint a picture, create a feeling or leave a taste. Words have been used to start wars and end wars, to create new countries and end centuries-old traditions. They can change situations, emotions and circumstances. If we let them, words can change us.
Why, then, do we so often take away their power in favour of political correctness, or trying to please or placate so many different people? All to often, in organizations that do the critically important work of helping hurting, lost people change their lives, words are chosen for their inoffensive, all-inclusive qualities.
Replacing powerful words with meaningless, non-committal phrases only weakens the potential power and influence that our message can carry.
And this is a problem - if your words can't carry the message of incredible need or passion or opportunity or desire... what will?
Great post, Bethany.
ReplyDeleteWorking in the non-profit sector and coming from business, I've come to the conclusion that the "inclusive" language used in non-profit is actually quite damaging sometimes. It's so vague, unmeasurable and meaningless a lot of the time.
What does "strengthening" or "building capacity" mean anyway? How can you expect people to give money to any organization (business or non-profit) that can't accurately explain what they are using it for?
-Kali Readwin
So true, Kali. Non-profits, with their fantastically important story, so often get all tripped and tangled in their attempt to not offend, that they lose the story entirely. It's frustrating, and so unfortunate, to see all that potential wasted!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment :)