the language that shapes
Why have I chosen to publish this book? I've come to understand how important the language we choose to use is. I've dived back into old blog posts to remind myself of the journey I've been on to bring me to this point. Back in 2013 I was wondering what impact the language we use has on us and how I could connect with a maternal image of God.
The image of God as Father is known and well documented in the Bible. It’s what I grew up with. Initially I didn’t even question it. Like I didn’t question why ‘mankind’ was used to describe all of us humans – male and female, or why ‘He’ was used to mean ‘She’ too. Apparently I was included in all of this masculine terminology, it was just that I and all my kind were invisible.
The language passed down to me through generations left me with awkwardness and difficulty around the idea that God can be like a mother. The concept seemed strange, improper. And yet I yearned to know this side of God. I read an article by Dr. Margo Houts (‘Feminine Images For God: What Does the Bible Say?’) and this quote resonated for me at the time,
“I began to ponder what it was about my social location that made feminine language for God strike me as a diminishment rather than an enrichment.”
During my search I came across the activist, writer and designer, Kate Fletcher. She talks about how the language we use actively shapes our view of reality.
“The theory of linguistic relativity suggests that language shapes thought: that words influence how we perceive and imagine the world. It goes some way to explain how, for example, the Inuit, who with their many words for snow, perceive variations and possibilities in snow types that speakers of other tongues have never considered. It seems that the language we speak shapes our view of reality.”
The issue of how we speak of God spills over into the secular world too, the language we choose to talk about God has significant impact for those with faith and those with none. The poet Hollie McNish wrote about her frustration with our inherited use of language and how it shapes a child's developing understanding of the world around them and their place within it:
“Starting to see how important language is as my kid explores the world.
My daughter asked me which man invented ladybirds today She only just turned three She asked me which man invented rain And raindrops, rainbows, grass and trees And she’s been singing all these songs to me From toddler groups and teachers lips About how He invented big and small, from elephants to raindrop drips. And I know I’m not religious And there’s more to it than this But when my daughter thinks a man made rain It starts to grate a bit And she looks so lovely singing Her hands drawing rainbow arches Her fingers starting raindrop storms And legs in circled grand duke marches As 10,000 men march up the hill She sings ‘he’s got the whole world in his hands’ Now my 3 year old thinks ladybirds Were invented by a man. I tell her ‘he’ means God and some believe a God made trees and rain It’s not a girl or boy, I say, She looks at me like I’m insane Which man invented rain then, mum? It doesn’t wash with her at all And no wonder she’s confused Cos we say He and Him with every call And it’s only language Hollie, It’s just the words we use. But language changes everyday Depending on the words we choose And I remember asking it at school Why mankind is used for all of us And my teacher looked and laughed at me And told me not to make a fuss It’s only language, Hollie, It’s just the words we use Mankind doesn’t just mean men It speaks for women too. And when we welcome crowds with ‘morning guys’ That includes the girls too And I wonder what would happen If we said ‘hello girls’ to groups of lads And if I said Womenkind then, sir, Would you feel part of that? He laughed it off and carried on ‘He’s got the whole world in His hands’, we sung He’s got the sun and the moon in His hands’ And you tell me it’s a Godly he But for me it just meant man And for her it means a man again Because that’s what ‘he’ does mean And you can tell me it includes us all But that shit is make believe If we sang ‘she made rain drops, grass and trees, She made us and you and me She made Womankind for we’ Would boys feel part of that? And if I said ‘it’s just the words we use ‘She’ means him and her Womankind means men and women The mother, the daughter, the holy blur Would you feel part of that? If I referred to God as ‘She’ and told you it’s just a neutral word As your sons start to believe That a woman invented ladybirds And everything else they see That a woman invented butterflies and bugs and food and trees And yes men invented lots of things And if she asked about electricity Or keystone bridges, plumbing fixtures Sewage systems Physics prisms Printing presses Ink and perfume Penicilin medicines Nylon, polyester mixes Insulation Steam engines Men created them, yes Men created lots of things But when she starts to think they made the grass I want to change the songs she sings Cos ‘he’ and ‘his’ , ‘mankind’ and ‘guys’ Doesn’t feel inclusive When you’re on the other side. And it’s only language Hollie But words are all we have And if that stuff’s repeated time again It starts to form a pact And I will not have my daughter growing up with these false claims With a world she think’s too big to hold cos everything’s man made.”
