“Innocuous slang,” “common phrase,” “casual comments,” “off-hand remark” are the phrases the editorial board used to describe Dr. Tom Hill’s remark “might just have to kill her.” This is precisely the point of Sara Junck’s letter to the editor that raised issue with Hill’s comment. Yes, this phrase is commonplace in our culture. Yes, we are quite positive Dr. Hill was making a joke when he uttered the phrase countless Americans vocalize on any given day. That is the point. We accept violence in our language without thought, without hesitation, without the realization that this language shapes our reality. It is precisely the point that Dr. Hill is “one of the good guys” but still is infected by a culture that condones, humorizes and normalizes violence – not just violence against women, but violence as a whole. It is not a far-reaching conclusion to suggest that terminology such as this enforces violence through a desensitization to the language and to the violence. Ms. Junck was not finger-pointing but rather illustrating just how thoroughly we all are entrenched in the violent metaphors of everyday speech. How easy it must be to simply dismiss such thought-provoking and intelligent letters as mere feminist propaganda. Laura M. Armstrong

Graduate student

Higher education and student affairs

Co-Chair

Committee Against Violence

Margaret Sloss Women’s Center