“There is no such thing as a safe word,” begins So Mayer’s Bad Language, often blunt as this warning suggests in its blend of memoir and manifesto, exploring the semantics that have so often been a yoke around their neck.
Whether it be a name which assumes Mayer’s gender, links them to an abusive relative or speaks to their Jewish heritage which cannot be distanced from the Zionist factions Mayer denounces, Mayer understands the violence contained in words.
Where Bad Language succeeds is in explorations of the ways in which words are used to control us.
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Enclosed in these pages is a powerful understanding of how the state allows for certain name changes, such as the adoption of a surname through marriage, but places bureaucratic obstacles in the way of those wishing to change their name due to transition or to escape stalking or domestic violence.
How words can be used to restrict us and even put us in harm’s way by the state’s refusal to accept linguistic fluidity as it flexes bureaucratic control.
