sarah xerta

“I am baffled as to how people who work with language fail to see the connection between words and sexism. It is through language that we shape our world. It is through language that we make meaning. It is through language, or the lack thereof, that we give power to oppressive worldviews. And to deny this is to deny the power of language, and the power of silence, which is a state of denial that seems especially irreconcilable among writers, people who work with language on a more fundamental level than, well, anyone else in the world. Writers who deny that literature has a role in either perpetuating or dismantling sexism are writers who deny the very function of words. I want to ask them, Why are you even writing?”