language

We know how long it can take to find your own voice, to dare to use it in public, make it heard, get it listened to. And, however small that voice is, in the company of men, we are told it is too much, too loud, too strident, too subjective, too intimidating, too anti-men. Still, we have to bite the bullet - you never realise at the time how, just by being yourself and speaking in your own voice, you can have an enormous impact on others (both men and women).

Despite all the difficulties, we have to be out there in the public sphere, and provide support for other women to do the same. The essence of effective communication is in the motivation to form an honest open relationship. Forget rhetoric - there's too much of it and it doesn't get us anywhere. Its purpose is to impress, influence, even manipulate. It uses power over the audience...

We have to take care not to recycle unreconstructed ideas through using fluent idaj. This is what we call International Development Architecture Jargon. We know there are problems with this when we come to translate it. What does it actually mean? Does it mean anything at all? Sometimes the meaning can be found in translation.

Language is a tool, we need to control it. Unfortunately it's often used to control the way people think... We're told that non-sexist language is inelegant, it contravenes grammatical rules. But, don't forget, who made those rules? They're not God-given. Rules only describe language - and language is continually changing, we can make our own forms and meanings.