The way we talk about living beings can raise or lower their perceived value.
Consider the pro-life strategy of calling a fetus a child , thereby effectively promoting the value of fetal life.
In the opposite direction, calling a Pakistani child killed by a US drone strike collateral damage can implicitly demote the value of that child's life.
Allison L.
Rowland 's Zoetropes and the Politics of Humanhood looks at such discursive practices--pro.
Ohio State University Press Zoetropes and the politics of humanhood, paperback/allison l. rowland
