Reactions to Words
As you listen to a message, you react to more than just the objective meanings of words. You respond to their emotional meanings as well. Some trigger words may set off such powerful emotional reactions that they dominate the meaning of the discourse. While some words deserve condemnation whenever they are used, people should control words and not the other way around. We should not let trigger words prevent us from hearing and evaluating the entire message within its overall context.
Let’s consider a hypothetical case. Assume that you find the use of the word “girls” to refer to adult females demeaning and disrespectful. Now suppose a recruiter visiting your campus is describing opportunities for advancement in his company. He tells about “one of the girls from the office” who was recently promoted to a management position. His use of “girls” makes you think this may be a sexist organization. As you sit there stewing over his word choice, you miss his later statement that two-thirds of all recent promotions into management have gone to women and that an aggressive program aimed at promoting more females and minority employees is in effect.
Tags: Education