Power Of Words In Karen Ho's 'Biographies Of Hegemony'

Words: 1597
Pages: 7

A person that can manipulate words to their advantage has a way of changing the though process of a person and helps them see a different point of view. The manipulations of words can not just change the way things are perceived but also it can change traditions. In Karen Ho’s “Biographies of Hegemony”, she explains how the workers of Wall Street use their ability of persuasion and their appearance to convince investors. They twist their words in order to change the conversation and direct it into a different direction. In the “Naked Citadel” by Susan Faludi, explains about an all male school admitting their first female. The female student changed the conversation of the school in order to break tradition. These groups have expressed that there are certain ways that certain people need to act and that they have …show more content…
That these smart people have worked hard to climb to the top in order to achieve the career they are chancing after. However, the culture that is Wall Street is changing. “In other words, smartness must be represented and reinforced by a specific appearance and bodily technique that dominantly signals that impressiveness; not surprisingly, such characteristics as being impeccably and smartly dressed, dashing appearance, mental and physical quickness, aggressiveness, and vigor reference the default upper classness, maleness, whiteness, and heteronormativity of ideal investment bankers.” (167) The culture of Wall Street is changing so that having the knowledge of investing and finance isn’t what is exactly looked for or coveted. The power of persuasion and the power of manipulating someone in order to have them agree to whatever the manipulator is saying.