In !sf-lit, article <v03007803b04cecc0c89a@[207.103.31.172]>, Camille
Bacon-Smith <[log in to unmask]> writes
> Re: The seemingly endless furor over spanking.....Let's remember
>>context, era, and author's intent. I do not believe that we should
>>rewrite history or rewrite literature to suit the ephemeral
>>definition of political correctness in another era.
>
>
>Sorry, but I grew up then--I AM looking at it from the perspective of the
>fifties and early sixties. Men did not properly threaten to spank adult
>women who worked with them, in earnest or in jest, unless they were grossly
>uncivilized.
That's one scenario.
A more common one in which the words might appear would be where the
people involved already had a rapport. That might be either a family or
close working relationship. Words said to someone you have a close
relationship with can have meanings completely divorced from anything
found in the dictionary. Context is all.
> What we don't realize on this other side of the divide is
>that while collar behavior (I can't vouch for any other kind) was much more
>formal than it is now. There certainly were people who did sexual
>harrassment and made assumptions about roles that we would find offensive
>today, but a gentleman didn't threaten a woman with bodily harm, even in
>jest.
But the words "I'm going to spank you" aren't necessarily a threat.
Everthing depends on what the speaker and the listener have decided that
the words mean.
In fiction the writer has to be careful to establish the context before
using dialogue that can be misconstrued. I'm told that this is a
particular problem for writers who dictate their text. It's a variant on
the usenet problem of being unable to transmit tone of voice in ASCII.
At least on usenet it's acceptable to use smileys.
Language that sounds perfectly natural can develop a life of its own
when transcribed. For that reason it is important for writers to develop
an ear for dialogue, and to realise that some things that we might say
every day can sound completely artificial in the mouth of a character.
Conversely there's an art to constructing dialogue that "sounds" right,
even though nobody would actually use those words in a real
conversation.
> Men who did weren't gentlemen, and the men I knew would have bitten
>off their tongues before making such a remark. By the seventies, of
>course, the behavior formerly reserved for the locker room came into the
>workplace itself, and it actually got more acceptable to other men when men
>behaved badly.
I recall numerous occasions when my mother "threatened" to punch my
father, and other family members, on the nose. As far as I'm aware she
never did, and would laugh at anyone who thought that the "threat" might
be taken seriously.
--
Bernard Peek
[log in to unmask]
|