Skip to content

Don’t Touch the Butt

After reading this section of Addario’s book, there are, in my mind, countless instances of compelling and vivid language. In light of an entire section about tragedy and hate, I’d like to focus on something more on the light-hearted side of vivid and compelling. On pages 73-74, Addario references an instance where she is put at a professional disadvantage because of her gender. Because she embraces her inner Bruce Lee, she escapes the scenario once, but the burden of being a Western woman in the nation of Pakistan, long remains, making for a very intense stretch of paragraphs.

The reason I was drawn to this passage perhaps speaks to my maturity level: I chuckled at the word “butt” … so sue me. It is Addario’s usage of common, provocative language, however, that really held my focus throughout the remainder of the passage. There are numerous examples of this, much like the use of the word butt instead of something less colloquial, the phrase, “Once President Bush went up in flames,” and her description of the adrenaline of the hundreds of sexually frustrated men. Addario could’ve used sophisticated diction and cut down on the figurative language, but for what? To totally leave out her pure devastation when she had nothing to show her male colleagues because she was being fondled? It is vivid and relatable descriptions like the aforementioned that beautifully showcase Addario’s casual and cutting-edge style, something she most certainly considered in the invention process of It’s What I Do.

In my own writing, I like to make sure I keep my audience in mind. For the sake of this course and most of the other writing I do, I’m writing to a college class, not the New York Times. Therefore, informality, humor, and slang is remotely acceptable, an opportunity I try my best to make the most of. My purpose is to grab my audience with my language – not as literally as in Addario’s case, unfortunately – and make sure that 500 words seems like 100. Much like Lynsey Addario, I want to make my opinions and my accounts as real as possible, even if that means deviating from my style.

Published inUncategorized

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Skip to toolbar