Word: phrase
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...instantly disliked the new version. True, the changed is pretty minor: instead of "Fair Harvard! Thy sons to thy jubilee throng" it was, "Fair Harvard! We join in thy jubilee throng." Only one phrase in the whole first verse had been revised, a fairly innocuous change. But word choice is not the issue. The words are fine, except that they have been altered...
...guess is the lyrics were changed because "thy sons" is a remnant of Harvard's exclusively male past. The lyric is not meant to constantly remind Harvard women that they have not always been full and equal members of the University. But it can. Women's reactions to the phrase "thy sons" range from complete acceptance to indifference to outrage. So why is my reaction somewhere between the first two? As a woman, I should embrace the politically correct change. After all, the Harvard that sang only of its sons is one that didn't want me in its lecture...
...original words before the revised ones, it probably wouldn't matter to me. I certainly wouldn't like a new Harvard song that only referred to one of the sexes. The new words make more sense--they are more inclusive and considerate. And yet, the revision of one little phrase the attempt to apologize for or whitewash the past is, in my eyes, silly and artificial. What real harm is done by that phrase, that one word? Its greatest crime is not what it actually does, but of what it reminds...
...instantly disliked the new version. True, the change is pretty minor: instead of "Fair Harvard! Thy sons to thy jubilee throng" it was, "Fair Harvard! We join in thy jubilee throng." Only one phrase in the whole first verse had been revised, a fairly innocuous change. But word choice is not the issue. The words are fine, except that they have been altered...
...guess is the lyrics were changed because "thy sons" is a remnant of Harvard's exclusively male past. The lyric is not meant to constantly remind Harvard women that they have not always been full and equal members of the University. But it can. Women's reactions to the phrase "thy sons" range from complete acceptance to indifference to outrage. So why is my reaction somewhere between the first two? As a woman, I should embrace the politically correct change. After all, the Harvard that sang only of its sons is one that didn't want me in its lecture...