Denote This

   I've noticed that many students, including myself, in our American Studies class have been blogging about Race to Nowhere lately. I'm not surprised because many of us can attest to the ridiculously overwhelming pressure that is discussed and studies within that documentary. But today, I would like to review the topic of connotation versus denotation that Doc OC has blogged about in An American Studies. In class, we talked about, or rather, argued about the meaning of the word "housewife" in the context of American Pharaoh. This word was used to describe Florence Scala in her "grass roots" movement in which she confronts the mayor. While some argued that this word carried the implication that Florence and her female followers were useless and unintelligent, I completely disagree with that. I think back then, as Doc OC also said, the word "housewife" was generally a neutral word in terms of connotation. Today, connotation is still an issue. As a high school student, I am affected by implications of harsh words spoken about others. One such word that really bothers me is the word "gay". I know that the student body as a whole has been lectured on the negative way we use this word, and how it can hurt others. But I don't think many people listen. I still frequently hear people using this word that used to mean "happy," to say "weird," "bad," "embarrassing," and anything that you would not want to be associated with if you are homosexual. Connotations are significant in the language of young people. We have to be careful about how we use certain words because language is so powerful in our society, and we never know who we might be hurting.