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A review by noacohen
‘I Find That Offensive!' by Claire Fox
3.5
I am sympathetic to Baroness Fox's position. I think the shutdown of debate in the name of mental security is a slippery slope, and the fact that the University of Oxford cannot discuss the issue of abortion in the name of student safety is extremely convincing.
I also found one of her key arguments interesting and convincing - that by placing undue emphasis on the significance of language we are compounding emotional harm. Reiterating that words threaten mental security causes them to do more psychological damage, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle.
However, the big oversight in this book is that it ignores a key - and to me, most significant - argument, which is that language can create an environment which exacerbates and inflames physical violence. While I don't believe that words themselves are violent, the constant airing of inflammatory or prejudicial views can create a physically dangerous environment. I don't believe that restricting speech is necessarily the solution, but I would have liked to see the author address this issue and hear her response.
Another point which I think was not well substantiated is about emotional abuse of children. What could have been an interesting chapter on the issue of poorly written and broad legislation, and the importance and complexity of articulating child protection laws, instead seems to utterly deny the existence of emotional abuse. Yes, telling off a child when they misbehave is not emotional abuse, and a law so broad that classifies it as abuse is ineffective and overly authoritarian. However, a parent who constantly belittles, demeans, and screams at a child, telling them they are worthless or should have been aborted, is abusive, even if they never raise a hand to them. I would have liked to see that assessed and see how Baroness Fox thinks we can better address this through legislation.
I also found one of her key arguments interesting and convincing - that by placing undue emphasis on the significance of language we are compounding emotional harm. Reiterating that words threaten mental security causes them to do more psychological damage, thus perpetuating the vicious cycle.
However, the big oversight in this book is that it ignores a key - and to me, most significant - argument, which is that language can create an environment which exacerbates and inflames physical violence. While I don't believe that words themselves are violent, the constant airing of inflammatory or prejudicial views can create a physically dangerous environment. I don't believe that restricting speech is necessarily the solution, but I would have liked to see the author address this issue and hear her response.
Another point which I think was not well substantiated is about emotional abuse of children. What could have been an interesting chapter on the issue of poorly written and broad legislation, and the importance and complexity of articulating child protection laws, instead seems to utterly deny the existence of emotional abuse. Yes, telling off a child when they misbehave is not emotional abuse, and a law so broad that classifies it as abuse is ineffective and overly authoritarian. However, a parent who constantly belittles, demeans, and screams at a child, telling them they are worthless or should have been aborted, is abusive, even if they never raise a hand to them. I would have liked to see that assessed and see how Baroness Fox thinks we can better address this through legislation.