Transformation Of Silence Into Language And Action By Audre Lorde

In the article“Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”, Audre Lorde talks about fearing to transform silence into speaking out to the world because she is an African American woman. Women do not get a chance to speak out because they are women, and women do not have the power to speak up for themselves. Which is why she is telling us to make a move and speak up. Being silent will get women nowhere. It will only make each individual feel dead inside and trapped “you’re never really a whole person if you remain silent, because there’s always that one piece of you that wants to be spoken out”(Lorde 118).

Audre Lorde uses emotions to support her main idea by using her own words and relating to every single woman out there. She is telling every individual woman that they could stay silent, but there is always going to be a part of them that will want to be free and speak up. She then begins to elaborate by saying how“ We can sit in our corners mute forever while our sisters and our selves are wasted, while our children are destroyed, while our earth is poisoned, we can sit into our safe corner mute as bottles…”(118). Audre Lorde is convincing women to speak up by using emotion while using facts. She states that if women decided to stay silent and be in fear nothing will get done. There will be no process of getting women’s freedom/rights. The next generation will go on to suffer the same way as women that are of a different race and identity have been going through.

Reaction Lordes’ article, “ The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” talks about fearing to transform silence into speaking out to the world because she is an African American woman. Women do not get a chance to speak out because they are women, and women do not have the power to speak up for themselves. I agree with Audre Lorde because women do not get the right to speak for themselves. Women are always put down because men have made a habit during the years to ignore us and look at us in a low profile. My only question for this is why do some men still continue to be against feminism? This connects to Deborah Tannen’s article “His Politeness Is Her Powerlessness” because both authors talk about how women that are a different race, religion, or choose to be the opposite gender fear to communicate.

They fear to speak out because of the judgments of other people. Woman are looked as communicating in an indirectness language. Although both authors have the same main idea to their articles, they have different scenarios. In Deborah Tannen’s article, she talks about woman and men seem to be looked at differently. Like when men communicate they are seen as more powerful than women because they are direct. While women are powerless because they talk indirect or how Tannen says it, “Convert”.She then talks about how communication in other cultures and places of the world are different from one another. Both male and female communicate in an indirect language, but women are more likely to get put down for it. “If a linguistic strategy is used by a woman, it is seen as powerless; if it is done by a man, it is seen as powerful'(Tannen 120). I think that if a woman chooses to use a linguistic they should not be seen as powerless.

Women should be allowed to use a strategy without being put down and looked as being powerless. Both articles also connect to Vershawn Ashanti Young “ Prelude: The Barbershop” as they talk about how there is a lot of discrimination towards communication and gender. In young’s article, he talks about how people are judged because of their racial and gender performance. It reflects on many things such as race, language, education, or how you were raised. Vershawn Ashanti Young talks about his own life story, and how he wants to be like the other African American men. He feels like he does not fit in because he is different than other African American men “As a result, I am hyper aware of how masculine I am (not) and how black I (don’t) act “(Young 122). He is considered not to be masculine because he does not speak the language of “ masculine”. Since he does not speak the language, it makes people assume right way that the person is gay.

In Tannen’s article she talks about how women communicate in an indirectness language, so then they are automatically looked as being powerless” labeling of ‘women’s language” reflects the view of women’s behavior through the lens of men’s”(Tannen 120). Finally, Lorde connects to both articles because she talks about women being afraid to speak up. Women are are afraid because they are always being looked down on being powerless because of the way they communicate, their race, culture, or just because they are women”Even within the women’s render us most vulnerable, our blackness”(Lorde 118). In a way, I can connect to all three authors because I too am a Mexican woman.

That’s culture is about women being seen as lower status than men. For generations women not being to speak up for themselves, and always be under control their husband. In Mexican culture, it is rare for a female to have an education because a woman’s job is to be a stay at home mom. Just like you if you are an educated female you are judged for it. They are seen as competition by men that still think in that generation. So for many years, I have asked why can women not be educated and be respected for it? I do not see the problem for it. Women should have the same privileges as men do. We should not be seen as low status, but with respect and the same privileges.