The politics of language, it has been discussed a couple of times throughout this semester, which goes to say what exactly is the politics of language? The politics of Language can be described as the way language and linguistic differences between people are dealt with. It can also be defined as the way someone uses language to express themselves or to persuade. When I first heard the phrase the politics of language in the first phase I had no idea what it meant, but I assumed it had something to do with the political arena. Going into phase 4, I now know there is more to the meaning of this phrase than just politics.  

     After reading our various reflection response assignments I was able to engage more with the politics of language and I realized that everyone has their own perception of what language means. One of the reflection assignments given to us that ties into the politics of language was novelist Toni Morrison’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Listening to Morrison’s speech she talks about the power of language and understanding it. In her speech Toni tells a story that centers around an old black woman that is blind who lives outside of town. The woman is visited by children who have come to her to ask her a question, her answer rides solely on her difference from them. The question they ask her is “ is the bird i am holding alive or dead?”. As someone who doesn’t have one of her senses, one of her senses she can rely on is her intuition. She knows what the children’s motive is, she cannot see it but she can sense it. Their motive was to disprove the old woman’s clairvoyance and expose her for the fraud they think she is. The woman answers the child by saying she does not know whether it is alive or dead but whatever the answer is, it is

now their responsibility.  The children ask her a question again and before she answers, she decides to stay silent. The woman’s silence here represents how sometimes language cannot fulfill the feeling, sentiment,or scenario, and silence is more powerful than saying anything.  

           Something I found interesting while listening to her speech was when Morrison said she thinks of language as a system. Language has fixed words and we rely on it to communicate with each other. On the other hand, Morrison also believes language is alive, it has so many influences from around the world, and it is constantly changing and adapting. Morrison says oppressive language does more than represent violence, it is violence. Sexist racist theistic languages are all examples of violent derogatory languages given by Morrison that enforce bad ideas and dont permit any new knowledge.  Toni mentioning these types of languages shows the connection language can have to violence as they have derogatory words in it that can affect how people feel and end up hurting them emotionally. Just because you say something bad to someone and it doesn’t hurt them physically doesn’t mean they weren’t hurt emotionally.  

             Toni Morrison’s speech was meant to appeal to an audience willing to listen about the power language has  and further develop what their idea is on language. After reflecting upon Morrison’s speech,  I learned how impactful language can be on the speaker and listener, reader or writer.  Going into phase 4 I further understand how language not only serves to function as a communicative tool but  it’s used to connect with others. Throughout this course these assignments helped me form a new perception of what language means and further expand my knowledge on the politics of language. Language isn’t just about speaking words but also about understanding it. Language can create and destroy, it can connect many people but it also has the ability to hurt people. It is important that we as a society learn the importance of language and try to understand how language can affect the people around us. Language is crucial to how we create bonds with other people, it’s what motivates and drives us in our lives. Through language it is how we express the inexpressible. We should all be able to freely express ourselves through language and not take away from our differences. 

 It’s about that time of the month again. Are you ready for it? The painful 7 days out of the month that a woman bleeds and feels pain from what may feel like every part of their body. The worst part? They can’t even control it! Why is it that women can go through a natural bodily function, and walk into a bathroom without the products needed to help maintain cleanliness? How come condoms and free sex education can be given out at pharmacies, but pads and tampons aren’t? It is completely unfair how a woman can approach that time of the month,  and there is a possibility they don’t have the finances to take care of their needs. Women bleed blood, not money, they shouldn’t have to pay over 5 dollars for something that is a necessity.       

      While everyone defecates and urinates, only women get their periods. Why should women have to pay so much for sanitary products when they are priorities? Why is it that they are around the same price as condoms or even more? Although these products are for the monthly bleeding cycle, they seem to be expensive. Women have no other choice than to go through the menstrual cycle. Tampons and pads are necessary products that women should not have to worry over being able to afford. With all of the natural stress that this time of the month brings a woman, finances shouldn’t have to be thrown on top.  

      Bleeding, cramping, even crying, are all a part of the menstrual cycle process. In order for the woman’s body to prepare itself for a possible pregnancy, it must undergo shedding of the lining of the uterus. This is the process in which the body gets rid of natural wastes that have been built up since the last cycle (about 28 days). In the article “period equity: what is it, why does it matter?” by  Gynecologist Humid Farid, she argues that feminime hygiene products are a necessity not luxuries , and should be treated as such. The author illustrates this in the text when she writes “People with heavy periods, requiring frequent changes of these products particularly face financial challenges, as they must buy even more pads or tampons than an average  menstruating person ;If they try to extend the life of products by using them for multiple hours they can end up with vulvar irritation and vaginal discomfort. Humid statement demonstrates the necessity of women being able to access sanitary products and what can occur when a woman doesn’t have the finances to tend to her natural bodily functions.   

     While sex is a natural thing, it isnt a something that is mandatory. Young women from the age of (as young as) 10 are forced to go through the menstrual cycle. In the article “Condoms Should Be Sold, Sanitary Pads Should Be Given For Free” by Chimwemwe John Paul Manyozo addresses the issue of sanitary products not being accessible to women and are left with no other choice but to improvise with something to prevent her bodily fluids from leaking through. The author illustrates this when she writes “during menstruation we improvise! We Use chiteje mostly, or whatever we can use at the time’ said the prisoner.”  This statement the author included supports the fact that sanitary products are not accessible to women in places they should be, like prisons and pharmacies. Because of this women have no other choice but to find an alternative  and are left with an even more uncomfortable menstrual experience. The author mentions in their article that we have a free condom system almost globally. It should be the bare minimum for places like schools, jails, and pharmacies to have free sanitary products for those in need. If men can have access to free condoms why shouldn’t women have access to free pads? 

   Period poverty has been an issue for many homeless, and low income women around the world. It is the inability to afford menstrual hygiene products. Misha Valencia, a journalist and clinician, addresses the impact that inadequate access to sanitary products have on women in her article “period products should be free in public bathrooms”. The author introduces this when she writes “A 2019 study found that 36% of the women surveyed missed a day or more of work per month due to period poverty”. Women who don’t have access to these products often find it hard to concentrate, and risk bleeding through their undergarments, forcing them to miss work. The author also mentions how students are also heavily affected by period poverty. Four out of five students claim they have missed school during their period because they didn’t have access to products. It’s sad that young women have to suffer because they don’t have the necessary money to afford tampons or pads. Buying these products can be very expensive,  and even stressful as women spend around an average of $19,000 on period products in their lifetime. Women shouldn’t have to spend almost 300 dollars a year for something that is inevitable. Some of those years are spent having to rely on others to receive their necessities. No woman dealing with  poverty should be faced with the decision of cleanliness or eating. 

     Companies shouldn’t capitalize off the needs of women. Tampons and pads should not be more expensive than toilet paper, when they’re only used for 7 days a month, 84 days a year. Condoms should not be given out for free, it’s not mandatory to have sex. The anticipation of getting to that time of the month, shouldn’t bring upon the worry that you won’t be able to provide for your basic needs. Periods need to be tended to properly or it can quite literally put a woman’s health in danger. It is not a luxury having a period, which means it is not a luxury

which means it is not a luxury product. Sanitary products for natural bodily functions should be made available to every woman in need of them, without a question.    

                                                                 Work cited 

1.  Humid farid, “Period equity: what is it ,why does it matter?” harvard health publishing, June 1 2021 https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/period-equity-what-is-it-why-does-it-matter-202106012473  

2. Chimwemwe John Paul Manyozo “condoms should be sold, sanitary pads should be given for free”, november 13, 2016  https://medium.com/@chimwemwejohnpaulmanyozo/condoms-should-be-sold-sanitary-pads-should-be-given-for-free-c2eeca77b741  

3. Misha valencia “ period products should be free in public bathrooms”, may 4, 2021 

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/period-poverty-pads-tampons-free-20210504.html

 Growing up as an immigrant child in the United States with little to no knowledge of the English language wasn’t very easy. I had to adjust to a new lifestyle and the language barrier between me and Americans. Adjusting to the American lifestyle and language confused me as a little girl. I had no idea why I was forced out of the way I was already used to living. It was so much harder with the children around you making fun of the way you pronounced certain words, or said certain letters. It made me despise going to school.

After attending school for kindergarten my teachers realized I had a lot of trouble with reading and they thought I didn’t know how to read at all. I’ve only ever been able to read in Spanish because it was my first language, but even so I still wasn’t able to read it very well. It hurt knowing all of the other kids were getting high reading scores and moving onto the next reading level for our grade, yet I wasn’t able to get past a few sentences. I struggled a lot with self confidence because of my inability to read as well as my classmates and I often got picked on because of it. I felt like there was something wrong with me, like maybe i was too stupid and thats why i found it difficult to read. 

My kindergarten teacher had even told my mom that she thought It would be best if I were held back a grade because I wasn’t able to read anything. I vividly remember going to my aunt’s apartment crying to her after finding out what my teacher had told my mom. It felt like even my own teacher didn’t want me in class, I felt like I wasn’t good enough. I know that wasn’t the case now but as a child I was angry and hurt about the situation and I was just thinking of the worst. 

 My aunt had a big impact on the development of my reading today. My mom was going to let me get held back a grade because she didn’t know what else to do since she had no money to afford a tutor to help me with my reading, but my aunt had convinced my mom to tell my kindergarten teacher to let me move on to the next grade along with my other classmates under the condition that she would help me with my reading. My mother came from el salvador and never had a proper education so she wasn’t able to help me with my reading, but my aunt could. My aunt had come to the United States when she was a teen and finished highschool here so she knew how to read and write very well in english. 

 A specific moment that impacted my reading today was when my aunt gave me an old kindergarten textbook of my cousins with a bunch of short stories to practice reading. Every night I would go to my aunt’s apartment and beg her to read the book with me,but she was often busy with work so I usually read by myself.  Reading everyday started feeling like a chore to me but when I read with my aunt I loved it. She really knew how to bring a story to life. My aunt would always tell me my reading would improve if I practiced everyday,and so I did. I would read every short story in the book every night and I never found myself getting bored with any of them. Each story had my full and divine attention, whenever I would read It felt almost as if I were in the story. At first it was difficult to pronounce or sound out a lot of the words on my own, but I found reading them by myself to be a lot easier since I didn’t feel the pressure of someone being next to me listening to how awful my reading was and criticizing it. I noticed the more I read everyday, the more my reading improved.  

Eventually I was able to read in english by the second grade, and even went on to have one of the best reading scores in my grade. I felt such a moment of triumph whenever I got called on to read in class and I was finally able to read a full page. It felt good putting an end to all my classmates’ jokes about my bad reading. It was a huge accomplishment for me. After learning how to read, a new door opened for me, a  new profound love for books. The first book I bought after my accomplishment was a goosebumps book. It was a series I always wanted to read after I learned how to because of the scary stories my cousin would read from the series. Although I think reading goosebumps might have been responsible for me later on forming a love for horror books and films. 

 Reflecting on my experience I realized the importance of knowing how to read and how much it can help people in their daily lives. Many immigrants who have come to the United States to this day still do not know how to read, but  I’m very grateful that I was given the opportunity to learn how to and I hope one day they will be given that opportunity too. I’m glad I had such a caring person in my life like my aunt who supported me throughout my childhood and motivated me to read. I feel like if my aunt were never there I would have never gotten the push I needed to read more and improve. Sadly my aunt is not with me anymore but I know she wishes the best for me and the memory of her giving me that textbook and taking her time to read it with me will always be a special moment between me and her that I’ll cherish forever.       

Hello everyone, my name is Stephanie Portillo, I am 18 years old, Im from El Salvador and I am management and administration major.