As we transform radical, clinical, and academic language to become more casual, we not only lessen the value of our vocabulary but actively harm marginalized communities.
thank you for putting into words something that was bothering me re: clinical terms like hyperfixation entering the vernacular but that I struggled to articulate! I think this was written very beautifully. and agree 1000% - I have been so frustrated by the proliferation of “anti male gaze” tiktok content that seems to only fuel consumerism in a different way and pit women even more against each other based on some vague aesthetic
You articulated this so well! When we start to pathologize normal human behavior, perhaps, in order to make oneself more “unique” or even as a trend, actual symptoms of mental illnesses retain their stigma.
I particularly liked this line: “if anyone can say they have “intrusive thoughts” or “hyperfixations” or “manic episodes”, then the full, actual realities of these symptoms seem like an overextension of otherwise normal behavior rather than a medical response to a neuropsychological illness”
commenting b/c I've been thinking about this a lot recently... the digital-social rhetoric slurry... I agree its harmful, I also (as a hater) think it's becoming intolerable to listen to, ideas and feelings being thoughtlessly shoved into trendy frameworks,,, a twitter account I really like (@coldhealing) documents examples of the co opting you're talking about and moments of the internet clearly shaping peoples' understandings of reality. it's cool. but yes, thank u for this,,, wishing we could return to speaking simply and plainly about how we feel instead of this hyperbolic, sloppy cut-and-paste mess haha.
i get excited every time you post! points that stuck with me: "We have confused “normalization” for “universalization” and the power dynamics of language. sending love <3333
thank you! if you want something a bit more dense on the relationship between power and language, i've mostly just recapitulated a lot of what foucault said :) The Archaeology of Knowledge is a good place to start if these ideas are interesting to you!
ways of seeing is great! it's a book and a tv show (which i think is on youtube)--the book is very easy to read and is half written essays and half all-picture essays :) read it in an art history class when i was 17 and it has not left my mind since
love the John Berger quote and the Atwood quote. so glad you wrote this, i literally haven’t been able to stop thinking about this topic as a whole since the rayne essay and that one binchtopia episode.
god thank you so much for articulating this... i have been thinking on it for a while and would have never been able to communicate it this well. especially in terms of "male gaze" this was fantastic as usual
Great article. I have a pet theory that autism is the perfect diagnosis-du-jour for the post-covid moment because people may be sensing actual decreases in their social skills and increases in neuroticism due to isolation and wrongly attributing it to autism which they have just become aware of. Definitely not the biggest or most compelling force driving the autism self diagnosis trend, but I def wonder if it’s a factor
"If “intrusive thoughts” are just “random ideas that pop into our heads” rather than “an upsetting symptom of a debilitating condition”, then we see the behavior of the mentally ill as a personal lack of control."
Woof - I feel that in my bones. I have ADHD and got diagnosed two years ago, but I grew up thinking "ADHD is when a kid can't sit still in class, I don't have that," yet I felt so guilty when I would forget assignments or when my mind would wander, I beat myself up because I treated as a moral failing, that I didn't have enough discipline to do the right stuff, instead of my brain fighting again me. Really great article!
Hi Charlie, great piece! I wrote a book about a group of cavemen who existed before language developed at all and I love any takes on language development and found this baller!
thank you for putting into words something that was bothering me re: clinical terms like hyperfixation entering the vernacular but that I struggled to articulate! I think this was written very beautifully. and agree 1000% - I have been so frustrated by the proliferation of “anti male gaze” tiktok content that seems to only fuel consumerism in a different way and pit women even more against each other based on some vague aesthetic
tysm ! <3
You articulated this so well! When we start to pathologize normal human behavior, perhaps, in order to make oneself more “unique” or even as a trend, actual symptoms of mental illnesses retain their stigma.
I particularly liked this line: “if anyone can say they have “intrusive thoughts” or “hyperfixations” or “manic episodes”, then the full, actual realities of these symptoms seem like an overextension of otherwise normal behavior rather than a medical response to a neuropsychological illness”
commenting b/c I've been thinking about this a lot recently... the digital-social rhetoric slurry... I agree its harmful, I also (as a hater) think it's becoming intolerable to listen to, ideas and feelings being thoughtlessly shoved into trendy frameworks,,, a twitter account I really like (@coldhealing) documents examples of the co opting you're talking about and moments of the internet clearly shaping peoples' understandings of reality. it's cool. but yes, thank u for this,,, wishing we could return to speaking simply and plainly about how we feel instead of this hyperbolic, sloppy cut-and-paste mess haha.
“cut and paste mess” is so on the nose I love it
Love this, it articulates a lot of the discomfort I feel with the word trauma being used so casually and constantly online (esp tiktok)
i get excited every time you post! points that stuck with me: "We have confused “normalization” for “universalization” and the power dynamics of language. sending love <3333
thank you! if you want something a bit more dense on the relationship between power and language, i've mostly just recapitulated a lot of what foucault said :) The Archaeology of Knowledge is a good place to start if these ideas are interesting to you!
Ashamed to say I’ve never heard of John Berger but that quote made me audibly gasp
ways of seeing is great! it's a book and a tv show (which i think is on youtube)--the book is very easy to read and is half written essays and half all-picture essays :) read it in an art history class when i was 17 and it has not left my mind since
this is so fucking well put!!
love the John Berger quote and the Atwood quote. so glad you wrote this, i literally haven’t been able to stop thinking about this topic as a whole since the rayne essay and that one binchtopia episode.
Love this so much !!
ooh you put this into words so well. <3 big fan, thank you.
god thank you so much for articulating this... i have been thinking on it for a while and would have never been able to communicate it this well. especially in terms of "male gaze" this was fantastic as usual
Great article. I have a pet theory that autism is the perfect diagnosis-du-jour for the post-covid moment because people may be sensing actual decreases in their social skills and increases in neuroticism due to isolation and wrongly attributing it to autism which they have just become aware of. Definitely not the biggest or most compelling force driving the autism self diagnosis trend, but I def wonder if it’s a factor
this but w the term trauma bonding
I’m glad I read this, because I’m not sure I’ll finish ‘Babel’
"If “intrusive thoughts” are just “random ideas that pop into our heads” rather than “an upsetting symptom of a debilitating condition”, then we see the behavior of the mentally ill as a personal lack of control."
Woof - I feel that in my bones. I have ADHD and got diagnosed two years ago, but I grew up thinking "ADHD is when a kid can't sit still in class, I don't have that," yet I felt so guilty when I would forget assignments or when my mind would wander, I beat myself up because I treated as a moral failing, that I didn't have enough discipline to do the right stuff, instead of my brain fighting again me. Really great article!
Hi Charlie, great piece! I wrote a book about a group of cavemen who existed before language developed at all and I love any takes on language development and found this baller!