speech and respect - College of Social Sciences and International ...

Taking Sides
changed ideas. We woke up and asked ourselves what were we
doing, spending time watching women being paraded like this?
And then it seemed bygone, outdated and boring. It didn't take a
revolution, it was dead and the audiences were gone. 70
The success of publishing houses, magazines, and newspapers for
subordinated groups encourages mainstream competitors to appeal
to those audiences. 71 Public platforms welcome new speakers. The
U.S. House of Representatives asked Imam Siraj Wahaj to give the
invocation in 1991; the Senate heard Imam Wallace D. Mohammed
do so the following year. 72 The Brooklyn Historical Society has
organised exhibitions about black churches and black women,
Hispanic culture, and the Italian festival in Williamsburg. 73 Entrepreneurs
have redesigned prosaic artifacts that powerfully shape
consciousness of relative worth. When Yla Eason's 3-year-old son
cried because he could not grow up to be master of the universe
since he was black, she began manufacturing dolls and action
figures with ethnically authentic features: Imani (a high-fashion
model) and Sun-Man (a Star Trek character). Although major toymakers
initially rebuffed her approaches, they soon became interested
in reaching the 34 per cent of children under 10 who are Black
or Hispanic. 74 As these (and earlier) examples show, attacks on
racial subordination may perpetuate or even intensify gender stereotypes.
To counter these, Cathy Meredig designed an anatomically
correct doll, with a shorter neck, higher waist, and larger feet than
Barbie. Little girls did not notice the difference, but mothers
exclaimed: "Wow! a doll with hips and a waist!" 75
IV. Addressing the Harms of Speech
At the same time that the hegemonic culture moulds what is said and
heard, profoundly affecting collective reputation, particular
exchanges enact status inequalities. In response, the struggle against
subordination seeks to sensitise speakers to the harm they cause.
Although civil libertarians may recoil from any interference with
speech, it is always constrained, as I argued in my second lecture. 76
Speakers could be "free" of their social environment only if the
audience were absent or indifferent—which would render speech
pointless. Speakers always engage in dialogue with their audiences,
even when the latter are silent. In intimate settings, couples choose
their words with care, thinking and feeling much they never ver-
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