LANGUAGE + POWER, GENDER, RACE: Linguist and writer Amanda Montell is here to discuss reclaiming gendered insults, cursing, women's linguistic innovation, sexism in our language and owning your own voice. She is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language and Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism She is also a creator and host of the hit podcast, Sounds Like A Cult. Today she joins PRETTYSMART to expand on her book Wordslut. She wants you to feel empowered by language instead of silenced by it. 

 She shares: 

• Why young women are the language innovators. 
• Slurs and how so many of them were once ordinary words used to reflect femininity. 
• How culture and language go hand in hand. 
• Why marginalized communities use language as a form of power in culture (and why it is almost always co-opted by mainstream society).
• Why we need to stop calling out typos and grammar mistakes online.
• What it really means when we have to put a qualifier on a word. 
• What term we can use instead of “hey guys” and why it’s important to read the room when it comes to language. 
• The power of reclaiming words vs. abolishing them. 

Follow Amanda here: https://www.instagram.com/amanda_montell/