Lakoff's Argumentative Essay

Lakoff makes an argument demonstrating the manner in which expletives in varying strengths are generally perceived and when they are considered socially acceptable (284-5). Particles such as "darn", "oh dear", and "goodness" are described as weaker expletives while words such as "shit" and "damn" are described as stronger expletives. She further explains that while weaker expletives are typically considered socially acceptable when women use them (but only when the situation is not a serious matter), stronger expletives are typically not socially acceptable for women's usage. As a teenager, I felt as though I was at the mercy of other people and, thus, powerless. Using strong expletives, I shifted people's perceptions of me. This was accomplished …show more content…
Cameron believes that gender is a fluid, everchanging embodiment of a person's expression of themselves in a given social context. In this sense, a person readily defines their gender within a community of practice by the way in which they present themselves through actions and behaviors, oral and written language usage, dress, intonation, word choice, and metamessages such as body language. Cumulative, all of these presentations are then weighed by those members of that community of practice against cultural norms thus creating a socially constructed, outward projection of their gender (49). This means that people are always projecting their internal gender through various facets of self-expression, and as such, they are constantly shifting this outward persona to accommodate for miscommunicated expressions, to align the persona with socially acceptable behaviors, language, and expression, to rebel against socially acceptable behaviors, language, and expression, or to express a newly found part of