Friday, May 9, 2014

In The Interest Of Consistent Spelling

I fought with this one for a long time and I've decided to rename the story A Lady's Perogative to A Lady's Prerogative. It is in this post that I will underscore my reasoning for holding out for so long and my reason for finally doing so.

There are many different spellings for the many different versions (dare I say dialects) of the English language. For instance the word that residents of the United States might know as Color, is spelled Colour in Canada and under the British dictionaries of the world. Many such words exist with such ambiguities of spelling which are recognized between the different dialects of English as being valid spellings.

Enter the word Prerogative (the apparently proper spelling in of the commonly misspelled perogative which houses the same definition for prerogative in the British, American and World English Dictionaries.

Here is the definition as it is listed on the Google search: define Prerogative complete with a nice little chart of its etymological origins.
  1. pre·rog·a·tive
    priˈrägətiv,pəˈräg-/
    noun
    1. 1.
      a right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class.
      "owning an automobile was still the prerogative of the rich"
    adjective
    LAWBRITISH
    1. 1.
      arising from the prerogative of the Crown (usually delegated to the government or the judiciary) and based in common law rather than statutory law.
      "the monarch retained the formal prerogative power to appoint the Prime Minister"
In the case of the its context in the story A Lady's Perogative (now to be known as A Lady's Prerogative) the context had a little bit of artistic license. My intent for its' definition was related to the fact that for many and even well into the ages well past Chivalry and Feudalism, that a Lady who acted in the best interests of people and most certainly the fair representation of other women and their rights takes precedence. 

The ideas of Chivalry that recognize that those of feminine attribution (to be fair in the modern ideas of gender) do not need those of the male aspect or attribution to lift them up to get ahead in the world but rather our support in their effort to further themselves, and to be free from the chains of stigma and cliché often associated with the feminine aspect versus the masculine aspect. A sort of a new idea of Chivalry that includes both the feminine and masculine form of Chivalry, Budo, Dao, Dharma or whatever other term or the various world origins that encompass what one might use to define the concept of a living set of precepts or tenets that some attempt to live by. Whew.

An example of this is the difference between how socially it is common to praise the masculine aspect of promiscuity and sexuality by labelling such a person a stud, but someone of the feminine aspect is labelled a slut. I'm not saying that promiscuity is a way of life that someone should live by, but I am saying that there is an imbalance that often favours one sex versus the other based upon stigma. 

One that I often deal with in my area is the use of the word whore, a word that I'd never use except in explaining my reasons for not doing so. It is another word that regardless of whether the subject of such a label is involved in such a vocation or not, it creates a cage for the person that its applied to. If they are employed as such then if they so choose to leave such a vocation, they are trapped by those who would label them as such and by those who'd apply a burden to it. I myself don't personally agree with that vocation as a replacement for a meaningful and committed relationship (or in my case for any kind of relationship as it is something that I've never taken part in), but I'd never stigmatize someone to the point of being unable to leave such a cage to change their life. There are many such words and many that create a cage for the person that they are applied to. That does not mean that someone should reduce their freedom of speech but rather be responsible with it for it is a great power and as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility. I'd rather use that power to break down cages for those undeserving of such rather than creating them for the same but I don't want power, but I can handle responsibility.

So for a long time this is where I chose to hold my vigil on the (incorrect) spelling of the word Prerogative, which of course is nothing other than a Lady's alone or in pairing with their spouse, whatever culture they may be and whatever gender they may be. In the world of the sixteen hundreds getting all of these different ideas and points of view to coincide is another. How much farther have we really progressed if we have the same social hurdles today?

Updates And Other Content

In the way of updates, I've been adding chapters to A Lady's Prerogative: Wounded Aerth although I am still playing with the idea of a rewrite. If you're interested I think that I am about four (possibly five) chapters ahead since my last post. Much like the recent chapters before hand some might be a little bit controversial if you need the warning.

Heroes Of Our Own and Stories From The End have progressed little since my last posted update and while I contend with a gradually rising group seeking to stamp out my work upon those and other stories. It isn't fun when a malevolent group of people attempt to erase you from your own history and take it for their own. But it makes writing Wounded Aerth much more of a statement.

Stay Well And Be Safe
Brian Joseph Johns

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