This week has been a good reminder of what I learned in Communication Law. Although we have the privilege of free speech, we need to be careful in our writing. Especially in 2017, writing has become a major platform for free speech and must be done the correct way.

Sexism - I follow some military pages on social media. Well, lately there has been a lot of talk about women joining the special forces and being in direct combat roles. I read the article of a woman Navy SEAL candidate who washed out after her first try. After the article, I scrolled down to the comment section to take a peek. There were numerous opinions that were very sexist about women being able to do that. My personal feelings aside, complaining about women being in direct combat roles just because they are female is poor writing.

Heterosexism - As mentioned above, military social media pages have also been discussing concerns with openly gay or lesbian soldiers serving. This is a very debated topic as well. The thing that I noticed most is the fact that it is safer not to assume anyone's sexual preference.

Racism - Most people and companies I feel do not dare to be openly racist. However, sometimes they slip a few words and it can come back to haunt them. This is extremely important in writing. You never want to come across as something you do not intend.

Ageism - I first learned about this watching "The Office." There is an episode I just watched where Michael Scott tries to keep the company from using smart phones because the older generations have a hard time learning how to use them. He felt the younger employees would push the older generations out of the job. The episode ends with Michael Scott still using an index roller instead of a contact list to perform sales calls. This is a silly example, but discriminating against older generations based on age is a real thing.