Commenting on Identity Talk

I commented on Ashleigh Morton's post Idenity Talk.  I'm just posting it here as well in case something terrible happens on this big scary internet.

"I think this topic of codes, semantics and pragmatics is really interesting and I like how your post explores it through a few different areas. It’s so true that our language is overpopulated with the intentions of others and not hard to see why miscommunications can occur in conversations. Everyone brings their own codes to an interaction, so it’s clear to see why communication across any kind of culture (even subcultures like people in jail or who like a certain type of music) can be very tricky! I found your post really helpful in relating this idea of telling to code to a gender-based situation, which is something that always interests me. I have always thought Judith Butler’s ideas about gender as performative have been disturbingly true. I’m only disturbed because there are so many gender-based issues now and throughout history and if it’s all based on talk it’s kind of upsetting! The whole idea that the way we act in any persona we adopt (even for an evening) is informed by the code of the activity and expectations of others. You say that it seems strange that people don’t notice that they’re constantly engaged in this image maintenance, but what happens if we do notice? How would we even deal with that?"