An Inconvenient Lie: Secrets in Language

Louise Goueffic shows the the theory of man to be false and the language imposing it as Truth a source of injustice and violence. She discusses the harms this has caused to both genders. She defines true-to-reality language and proposes a theory of inclusiveness using true-to-reality language that benefits both genders.

About the Author :
Louise Goueffic B.A., B.Ed., studied in France and collected twenty thousand items of speech concerning specifically the speech concerning species. She categorized and analyzed ten thousand that she now calls the Patriarchal Code.

Review :
Louise Goueffic's "An Inconvenient Lie" has us look at the language addressing us and our species. Written in everyday speech almost free of academic jargon she argues that the names used in the present theory of what our species is, are false. She can't seem to hide her anger about the deception in the first half of the book as she passionately describes the beliefs the theory created and the harms it did to almost all of us. In the second half she gives solutions and proposes a theory of inclusiveness "true-to-reality."This book is a must read for those of us concerned about our species and our planet. Patricia Walsh, London ON A passionate, logically jagged, linguistic-based argument of man's subdual and suppression of women. There is a lie being told, passed around not merely from person to person, but from generation to generation, and its destructive powers are great.Such is the force with which Goueffic attacks symbol-makers and users, with scarcely anyone safe from her criticisms. Starting with Manu in 2400 B.C., the author weaves her polemic against man's creation of words aimed at separating off, rising above and distinguishing themselves as the idealized part of our species. It's not merely the use of the term "man" to refer to our species as a whole that distorts the truth. The other half --the feme-- is subjugated by man to a mere add-on, to wo-man. Words such as "human,""mankind" and "woman" built from "man," or having "ver" (man), "wor" (man), "fir" (tree/phallic) or "sem" (semen) in "universe," "world," "firmament" or "seminal" respectively, has man placing himself over and above all, projecting himself outward, making himself the alpha male, the godhead. But, according to Goueffic, there is a solution -- the Rofemtic Movement, "the movement to reestablish true-to-reality symbols and truths"; its heart is the idea that we establish man not as man, but as male, and fem as fem.Goueffic's writing has passion and fire to it, but it might take too much effort for the reader to attempt the task of absorbing the information.With an incessant use of slashed words (H/he, F/father, etc.), long Hegelian-type prose, overly repetitive arguments and loose informal reasoning, the book reads more like propaganda in search of a philosophical soapbox.An essay that was pushed beyond its means; what could have been an engaging look at historical and social etymology is rendered difficult and distant.-Review by Kirkus Louise Goueffic's 'An Inconvenient Lie' is a must read for all concerned about our planet and what it means to be a member of our species today."Enough is enough" she says. Her detailed analysis of our symbols shows how, and with what consequences, our language has advanced the interests of only one-half of the species: patriarchy. The other "fem" is made absent, invisible, less than equal, an appendage, a plaything. Goueffic exposes these mind games in order to reveal what is at work and to make present these absences. Only when we learn to think for ourselves, she argues, will we have the basis for a more equal and genuine flourishing society.Susan L. Robertson, ProfessorGraduate School of EducationUniversity of BristolCoordinator, Globalisation and Europeanisation Network in Education, Coordinator, Centre for Globalization, Education and Societies; and Editor, 'Globalisation, Societies and Education'.