By Madeline Poage, Staff Writer, Emerson College
“I can’t believe there are people who just don’t read,” my class chorused in disgust. “How can you not read?” The conversation moved on to mockingly relate tales of acquaintances who had never read classic works of literature. But it was the genuine bafflement of my classmates that caught my attention — how they simply couldn’t understand how people went through life without reading for pleasure.
Easy. You don’t know how. Or you don’t like to. Either way, you don’t do it.
Most of us are aware of the typical privileges — white, straight, cis, wealthy, male. The classics. But literacy privilege seems to slip most minds, and odds are, if you’re in college, you’ve got it. It is the abuse of knowing how to read and the oppression of those who struggle to function in our literacy-based country, where 32 million adults are illiterate. And literacy privilege is just as damaging to society as the others. It’s ableist, classist, and downright judgmental.
One of the most common displays of literacy privilege comes from “grammar nazis.” They delight in pointing out errors in others’ grammar, spelling, and pronunciation, and their main hunting grounds are the the message boards and the comment threads on the Internet. They monopolize these spaces, on guard against those who would dare use the wrong “your.” But grammar nazis depend upon the idea that there is one correct way to speak English, when there actually isn’t. Most of the stringent grammar rules we accept as fact are actually arbitrary. That’s right, I said all those rules we learned about in elementary school are meaningless. English is different from many other languages in that most of the frustrating rules we accept as the norm (not ending sentences with a preposition, I’m looking at you) aren’t actually there to perform the function of grammar — to make language as intelligible as possible. They were created in the 17th and 18th centuries by a bunch of wig-wearing elitists who were obsessed with Latin and tried to force English to bend to Latin conventions. There’s a reason it’s a dead language, folks.
In fact, certain dialects are often rejected by linguistic snobs who adhere to the type of English propagated as the only correct system — that of the privileged, wealthy, and white. Meanwhile, African-American Vernacular English and “Spanglish” have their own rules that make perfect sense within that context. Dialects like these, as well as certain accents, are regarded as indicators of low intelligence. Yet viewing this as an accurate measure of intellect is deeply flawed and problematic. Again, it presupposes that there is one correct way to speak and write English.
“I can’t believe there are people who just don’t read,” my class chorused in disgust. “How can you not read?” The conversation moved on to mockingly relate tales of acquaintances who had never read classic works of literature. But it was the genuine bafflement of my classmates that caught my attention — how they simply couldn’t understand how people went through life without reading for pleasure.
Easy. You don’t know how. Or you don’t like to. Either way, you don’t do it.
Most of us are aware of the typical privileges — white, straight, cis, wealthy, male. The classics. But literacy privilege seems to slip most minds, and odds are, if you’re in college, you’ve got it. It is the abuse of knowing how to read and the oppression of those who struggle to function in our literacy-based country, where 32 million adults are illiterate. And literacy privilege is just as damaging to society as the others. It’s ableist, classist, and downright judgmental.
One of the most common displays of literacy privilege comes from “grammar nazis.” They delight in pointing out errors in others’ grammar, spelling, and pronunciation, and their main hunting grounds are the the message boards and the comment threads on the Internet. They monopolize these spaces, on guard against those who would dare use the wrong “your.” But grammar nazis depend upon the idea that there is one correct way to speak English, when there actually isn’t. Most of the stringent grammar rules we accept as fact are actually arbitrary. That’s right, I said all those rules we learned about in elementary school are meaningless. English is different from many other languages in that most of the frustrating rules we accept as the norm (not ending sentences with a preposition, I’m looking at you) aren’t actually there to perform the function of grammar — to make language as intelligible as possible. They were created in the 17th and 18th centuries by a bunch of wig-wearing elitists who were obsessed with Latin and tried to force English to bend to Latin conventions. There’s a reason it’s a dead language, folks.
In fact, certain dialects are often rejected by linguistic snobs who adhere to the type of English propagated as the only correct system — that of the privileged, wealthy, and white. Meanwhile, African-American Vernacular English and “Spanglish” have their own rules that make perfect sense within that context. Dialects like these, as well as certain accents, are regarded as indicators of low intelligence. Yet viewing this as an accurate measure of intellect is deeply flawed and problematic. Again, it presupposes that there is one correct way to speak and write English.
So when a grammar nazi calls someone an idiot for a comma splice while using as many polysyllabic words as possible, they are not only commenting on that person’s literacy skills, but also on what could be intrinsic parts of that person’s identity, such as their race, culture, or native country. They are resting on the assumption that everyone has received the same education, an extension of classism. A grammar nazi bases all of their knowledge about someone by the grammar and structure of a person’s Youtube comment, disregarding any possibility for attending a low-income school, struggling through a language barrier, or even having a learning disability. Because literacy privilege is ultimately ableist too — it reviles those who have a learning disability, such as dyslexia, which cripples their ability to recognize words and letters, read quickly, and hinders their vocabulary skills. A person with dyslexia does not have the same ease of operating in the world as someone who doesn’t. “How can you not read Faulkner?” my class cries. What they don’t consider is how those sentences are a minefield for some and the cost of navigating it, such as increasing anxiety and depression, just isn’t worth the words.
The same holds true with those who contend with language barriers that inhibit their communication. The American education system doesn’t cater to anything but an ethnocentric agenda that demands conformity to a difficult language and culture, requiring immigrants to leave their identities at the door. So when someone snidely points out they’ve misspelled a word or split an infinitive, it does nothing but reinforce the oppressive structures that already exist and actively discriminate those who could definitionally be a part of an ESL class. Not only does this display a truly impressive level of douchebaggery, it is an exercise in literacy privilege and targets people who are not lazy or stupid, but who are often victims of oppressive societal structures.
Even worse, many people who do not carry literacy privilege are trapped in this perpetual cycle because they lack access to same services those who have literacy privilege have been lucky enough to experience. There are clear ties between poverty and illiteracy, with nearly half of American adults performing at the lowest literacy level living in poverty. Literacy itself is learned, which means illiteracy is passed down from illiterate parents, so 1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read. Scarily enough, 85% of all youth in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate. According to the Huffington Post, these stats haven’t changed in ten years. This isn’t something to mock, but instead, something that needs to be understood.
What the grammar nazis and the people in my class don’t understand is what literacy privilege means. It means they can safely navigate public spaces by reading signs. It means they can make informed choices about buying products by reading labels. It means they can get a driver’s license by completing the written test. They can enter conversations on the local and national level. They can order off a menu. They can fill out the forms necessary to do anything in this country. They can help their children with homework. They can stay in contact with loved ones. They have better employability. They are independent.
“How can you not read?” my class asks.
People never start off on the same playing field. A person who struggles through every novel in a high school English class, who stumbles over every syllable and is teased for mixing up the letters that everyone else understands, is going to view literature differently than someone for whom reading comes naturally. A person who is learning English and, when they try to practice is a public forum, is ridiculed from their accent or the “brokenness” of their attempt is going to have their confidence crushed, and the likelihood of making such an attempt again is slim. An illiterate parent isn’t going to have the same job opportunities, the same social standing, the same life as someone who can read. Literacy privilege has made sure of that.
Reading and grammar are not markers of intelligence, let alone worth. They are, apparently, a platform for the privileged to cast a jaundiced eye on the many below them and sneer. Literacy is the armor the elite hide behind in order to prove that those who are not as privileged are somehow worth less, and therefore less worthy of being heard. But when you take a closer look, that armor is really rather flimsy. And if we come to recognize our own literacy privilege, we might just crack it.
Madeline Poage is a WLP major from New Jersey. When she was little, she wanted to be a professional ghost hunter. She's a Virgo, enjoys long walks on the beach, and enjoys poking dead things with a stick. You can find Madeline onTwitter.
Images: Corbis, Failblog.com
The same holds true with those who contend with language barriers that inhibit their communication. The American education system doesn’t cater to anything but an ethnocentric agenda that demands conformity to a difficult language and culture, requiring immigrants to leave their identities at the door. So when someone snidely points out they’ve misspelled a word or split an infinitive, it does nothing but reinforce the oppressive structures that already exist and actively discriminate those who could definitionally be a part of an ESL class. Not only does this display a truly impressive level of douchebaggery, it is an exercise in literacy privilege and targets people who are not lazy or stupid, but who are often victims of oppressive societal structures.
Even worse, many people who do not carry literacy privilege are trapped in this perpetual cycle because they lack access to same services those who have literacy privilege have been lucky enough to experience. There are clear ties between poverty and illiteracy, with nearly half of American adults performing at the lowest literacy level living in poverty. Literacy itself is learned, which means illiteracy is passed down from illiterate parents, so 1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read. Scarily enough, 85% of all youth in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate. According to the Huffington Post, these stats haven’t changed in ten years. This isn’t something to mock, but instead, something that needs to be understood.
What the grammar nazis and the people in my class don’t understand is what literacy privilege means. It means they can safely navigate public spaces by reading signs. It means they can make informed choices about buying products by reading labels. It means they can get a driver’s license by completing the written test. They can enter conversations on the local and national level. They can order off a menu. They can fill out the forms necessary to do anything in this country. They can help their children with homework. They can stay in contact with loved ones. They have better employability. They are independent.
“How can you not read?” my class asks.
People never start off on the same playing field. A person who struggles through every novel in a high school English class, who stumbles over every syllable and is teased for mixing up the letters that everyone else understands, is going to view literature differently than someone for whom reading comes naturally. A person who is learning English and, when they try to practice is a public forum, is ridiculed from their accent or the “brokenness” of their attempt is going to have their confidence crushed, and the likelihood of making such an attempt again is slim. An illiterate parent isn’t going to have the same job opportunities, the same social standing, the same life as someone who can read. Literacy privilege has made sure of that.
Reading and grammar are not markers of intelligence, let alone worth. They are, apparently, a platform for the privileged to cast a jaundiced eye on the many below them and sneer. Literacy is the armor the elite hide behind in order to prove that those who are not as privileged are somehow worth less, and therefore less worthy of being heard. But when you take a closer look, that armor is really rather flimsy. And if we come to recognize our own literacy privilege, we might just crack it.
Madeline Poage is a WLP major from New Jersey. When she was little, she wanted to be a professional ghost hunter. She's a Virgo, enjoys long walks on the beach, and enjoys poking dead things with a stick. You can find Madeline onTwitter.
Images: Corbis, Failblog.com