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Argumentative Analysis: 'Distasteful Language In Gilmore Girls'

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The juxtaposition of a witty and entertaining cast and the idyllic town of Stars Hollow makes "Gilmore Girls" a fan favorite for people of all ages. The series, which aired from 2000 to 2007, centers around a single mother, Lorelai, and her teenage daughter, Rory. Lorelei is a strong independent woman who left her home at the age of 16 to raise Rory. She overcomes personal and professional obstacles to support Rory’s dreams of attending an Ivy League college and becoming a world-renowned journalist. "Gilmore Girls" has been a feel-good show for myself over the years. Upon first watching the show in middle school, I envied Rory’s close relationship with her mom and the friendships that unraveled throughout the seemingly perfect small town. …show more content…

Critiquing language through the lens of disability is essential to crip linguistics. Ultimately, it challenges societal attitudes towards disability. The language used in "Gilmore Girls" has a history of justifying the distasteful treatment of individuals with disabilities. It is not enough to argue that "Gilmore Girls" is reflective of the time period it was produced in. Challenging the harmful language is necessary to advocate for a more inclusive society, especially when the show still has great popularity. Building upon the articles explanation of Crip linguistics is the recognition of intersectionality. Disability intersects with a multitude of other forms of oppression such as racism, homophobia and sexism. For Lorelei and Rory and many of the other characters in Stars Hollow, their white privilege intersects with their able-bodied privileges to create advantages and opporutnities. Ableist attitudes are reinforced through the vastly white cultural norms and standards which are often exclusionary for people of diverse backgrounds or disabilities. These attitudes intersect seamlessly with raciolinguistics. From a raciolinguistic perspective, the non-white characters tare limited and are portrayed in stereotypical ways. For example, Michel, the French-speaking black concierge, is portrayed as standoffish. Another example is the way Emily, Lorelei's wealthy mother, treats her multitude of “replaceable” maids, most of which are women of color, not empatheticlaly. She is demanding and expects the maids to fulfill every request with no complaints. Portrays like such fail to accurately depict the diversity of the real world and highlight the ways diverse individuals are undervalued in society. Language representation of race like such exemplifies how language

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Maria stated, “she said, “I am a cripple. I chose this word to name me. I chose from among several possibilities, the most common of which are ‘handicapped’ and ‘disabled.’ I made the choice a number of years ago, without thinking, unaware of my motives for doing so. Even now, I’m not sure what those motives are, but I recognize that they are complex and not entirely flattering" (143).

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Nancy Mairs, a feminist writer who has Multiple Sclerosis, defines the terms in which she interest the most with the world. Nancy Mairs will name herself a cripple and not be by others. She will choose a word that represents her reality for example in the beginning of her story she mentioned about her being in the bathroom trying to come up with a story about cripples. She was in the handicap bathroom and when she tried to open the door she fell, landing fully clothed on the toilet seat with her legs splayed in front of her and she said “the old beetle -on-it’s back routine.”

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In the essay “On Being a Cripple”, Nancy Mairs has multiple sclerosis and describes her life being a cripple. She talks about how the disabled is not accepted to society. She doesn’t want to be identified because she is disabled; she doesn’t want to be called “handicapped” or “disabled”. She wants to be named cripple but would never use it to call others. She feels as the cripple describes her the best, she doesn’t see herself as disabled or handicapped because she believe she is able to do things even though she have disease.

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In James Baldwin’s essay titled “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me What Is?” Baldwin highlights his major argument by capitalizing the words in the title so that it can stand out to the readers. His main idea is that all languages are equal, and there is an inequality in society where one is judged by the way they speak. Baldwin wanted the readers to understand that all languages do serve a purpose no matter how a person articulates it. Baldwin also wanted to convey that there is racism that is placed upon a black person just because of the way they speak.

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In the essay, “If Black English Isn’t Language, Then Tell Me, what is?” (1979) Baldwin asserts that “Black Language” is part of the American community, and background, but its social background makes people deny it. He supports his claim by using his personal experience while also including examples of how languages are involved, and it is a key to identity; he also uses pathos and linguistics diversity to encourage his readers to support his claim. Baldwin purpose is to inform his readers about the situation in order to augment how black language is not only a language itself, but how it unveils things about the early days of American society.

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1356 Words | 6 Pages

My Rhetorical Analysis Language is a part one’s identity and culture, which allows one to communicate with those of the same group, although when spoken to someone of another group, it can cause a language barrier or miscommunication in many different ways. In Gloria Anzaldua’s article, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, which was taken from her book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, she is trying to inform her readers that her language is what defines her. She began to mention how she was being criticized by both English and Spanish Speakers, although they both make up who she is as a person. Then, she gave convincing personal experiences about how it was to be a Chicana and their different types of languages. Moreover, despite the fact that her language was considered illegitimate, Anzaldua made it clear that she cannot get rid of it until the day she dies, or as she states (on page 26) “Wild tongues can’t be, they can only be cut out.”

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Waist High In the World is a novel that focuses on the importance of accepting everyone with dignity and respect despite their disabilities and differences. The author of the book, Nancy Mairs purpose when writing the book was to create awareness and share her experience as a “cripple” in order to create consciousness and understanding of those who are going through the same process. Mairs uses different persuasive strategies to convince readers to want a world with people like her in it, this includes the use of pathos, logos and ethos.

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They do not see her for who she is, only for how she looks. They judge her appearance, making fun of her hair and calling her “burnt toast”. In her story, we can see how these harsh words affect her. She the racial prejudice of her peers makes her feel like she must change who she is and that she is not good enough. Both texts show the ugliness of racial prejudice and how damaging it is to the people being discriminated

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To advance in society, the characters must stick together and not attempt to tear each other apart. It is hypocritical for someone to condemn another person for something that they also practice; “colorism and traditional U.S. racism are inextricably intertwined, yet distinct” (Harris 54). However, this demonstrates how racism has influenced the thoughts of those oppressed by it. It is ironic that although Janie is the person with the lightest skin and has grown up in a white household, she does not have these views. The people with darker skin have these colorist views toward her.

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1635 Words | 7 Pages

This how a language connects towards those who can relate to other people and may or may not have a deeper relationship Language is a representation

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712 Words | 3 Pages

Lorelai was raised by Emily and Richard Gilmore. They are both honorable socialites who live in New England. They have tons of money, tons of friends, and also a ton of rules. This alludes to their strict, and failed, authoritarian parenting style. Lorelai was always a carefree, rebellious spirit who only wanted to battle everything her parents wanted her to do.

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She has multiple sclerosis. In the essay she describes the struggles of her condition and knows that it causes her to have limitation in everyday societal procedures. She blunt choice of word to describe only herself and no other. After reading her essay, the word "Cripple" is neither informal, accurate, nor realistic. It is derived from the Old English word cripple, to crawl, and is considered offensive.

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1194 Words | 5 Pages

The discrimination against the white race begins with a gradual distinct treatment of the African Americans who appear to have a trace of the white race. Helene proves to have a more formal dialect as she asks for “the bathroom” (23) and the black woman cannot understand until Helene finally refers to it as “the toilet” (23). The difference in word choice distinct Helene from the African Americans in the Bottom. The fact that Helene also has fairer skin than the African Americans gives the black woman a reason to believe Helene has a trace of white. Therefore, when Helene approaches the black woman on the train, “[the woman fastens her eyes]…on the thick velvet, the fair skin, [and] the high tone voice” (23), as if surprised and shocked to see an African American women appear in such a manner.

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Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.

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