I’m imagining every high school and college English teacher cringing as they read the following:
“Webster’s dictionary defines the word [insert word and definition here]…”
Ugh. How many uninspiring topic-driven papers have started out with those words? Too many to count, and I guarantee even I’m guilty of writing at least one paper in my lifetime that started out with that cheesy and very lazy intro.
But the other day, when I was having breakfast with a friend, he made an interesting statement. He just got back from a trip to Eastern Europe, and as people often do when they’re traveling outside of the country, he was making observations about how other people in the world view the goings-on inside of our borders. He had a lot to say, and everything he said was interesting to me. But it was this one small statement he made in passing that caught my attention:
“For some reason, the definitions of certain words people use in America don’t match the definitions in the dictionary anymore.”
I think this triggered me because, in my own way, I had already been struggling with this idea — I just hadn’t “defined” the situation that way until he made that comment. I’ve known I was going to end up blogging about this topic for at least three weeks, but until I had this way to frame up my thoughts, I wasn’t sure how I would express myself without going all wonky on you. (I may still go wonky on you, but I at least feel better about trying now!)
Anyway. Here’s the backstory:
Lou and I usually record and watch that daily entertainment show, EXTRA, before bed each night. And, I usually multi-task when the show is on — that is, I brush my teeth for two full minutes using my Quip toothbrush. It helps the time pass faster if I’m moving the brush around in my mouth while I’m hearing the latest celebrity gossip. But recently, the host of the show, Mario Lopez, was in hot water for something he said, and the story about it was in the opening segment of the show.
Apparently, Mario had appeared on some talk show I’ve never heard of before, and he was asked by the host (Candace Owens) to give his opinion about when a parent should talk to their child about being transgender. When Mario answered the question, he said he believed a parent should wait until a child is into his or her “formative years” to have those kinds of conversations, and I think he also said he thought it was “dangerous” to have those conversations too early. The next thing you know, Mario Lopez is under fire for being insensitive and bigoted, and even his own show issued a statement to try to distance themselves from Mario and his beliefs.
I think I may have experienced some uneven brushing on my teeth that night because I could only concentrate on how irritated this story made me feel. The truth is, until that moment, I didn’t really realize how much I like Mario Lopez. I mean, the dimples alone are pretty noteworthy, but to me, he’s always seemed kind to his guests, and, he appears to be a pretty nice fella all around. And even when they replayed the incendiary portion of his interview with Candace Owens, he seemed even and thoughtful… Yet in the aftermath of that interview, his comments were being depicted as if they were explosive and like he was treading dangerously close to a form of hate speech.
But I was really bothered by this whole controversy, and I had trouble falling asleep that night. I wasn’t bothered one way or the other about Mario’s comments on transgender issues, mostly because I really don’t have a reason to think about that kind of thing. I’m not a parent, and, I really don’t believe my thoughts about transgender issues are even relevant, so why should I weigh in? But I was really, really bothered by the fact that Mario was literally asked to give his opinion, and the last time I checked, by definition, that word meant something it no longer means in this culture.
Here’s what it used to mean, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, that is:
o·pin·ion — /əˈpinyən/ (noun): a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
But considering the reaction people had to “Mario’s opinion” — as covered by EXTRA and several other celebrity news outlets — the following might be a more fitting replacement definition for that word:
o·pin·ion — /əˈpinyən/ (noun): a view or judgment formed about something that is only valid if it aligns with the moral majority or the loudest voices inside of a given culture.
I’m sure that definition makes me sound like a right-wing nut-job or something, but if I remove the hot button issue of transgender child-rearing for a minute, the underlying issue that is truly on my mind is the fact that we really are redefining so many things in our culture to the point that when someone asks you to give “your opinion” on something, what they might really be looking for is your alignment.
