3 ms·

That discomfort has to do with your own narrow associations with the word, unable to separate the contexts and therefore triggering the human slavery version of

by loceng 6y ago

That discomfort has to do with your own narrow associations with the word, unable to separate the contexts and therefore triggering the human slavery version of master/slave in your mind and the associated emotions. Master and slave in this context has nothing to do with human slavery.

neckardt 6y ago
> That discomfort has to do with your own narrow associations with the word, unable to separate the contexts and therefore triggering the human slavery version of master/slave in your mind and the associated emotions. I agree with all of this. I'm sure if I were to work with master/slave systems for a while the connotation to me would change from the historical one to the technical. However even then, if I communicate with someone outside of technical people, it will carry the slavery connotation to them. A while ago I had a similar issue when trying to explain male and female connectors to a friend. When she heard me use the terminology she thought I was joking, and I had to show her the wikipedia article and connectors on amazon. In that case it was harmless, but I could imagine the same scenario happening when trying to explain master/slave terminology to a colored person, and it coming off as an offensive joke.
- loceng 6y ago
  No, you're coddling them then - if you reference master-slave to someone outside of technical people then the context of the conversation will be technology, coddling them and treating them as if they're fragile and can't learn of a new context; why would you be talking to them about master-slave anyway if it wasn't relevant to the conversation - it's not even a scenario that would exist? So should the BDSM community stop using the terms master and slave, or it's okay in that context but not in a technology context? Curious if you have a double standard or if you'll change your mind. Edit to add: I truly hope you answer the BDSM question instead of the likely avoidance so you can maintain an irrational position.

by loceng 6y ago

neckardt 6y ago

> That discomfort has to do with your own narrow associations with the word, unable to separate the contexts and therefore triggering the human slavery version of master/slave in your mind and the associated emotions. I agree with all of this. I'm sure if I were to work with master/slave systems for a while the connotation to me would change from the historical one to the technical. However even then, if I communicate with someone outside of technical people, it will carry the slavery connotation to them. A while ago I had a similar issue when trying to explain male and female connectors to a friend. When she heard me use the terminology she thought I was joking, and I had to show her the wikipedia article and connectors on amazon. In that case it was harmless, but I could imagine the same scenario happening when trying to explain master/slave terminology to a colored person, and it coming off as an offensive joke.

loceng 6y ago
No, you're coddling them then - if you reference master-slave to someone outside of technical people then the context of the conversation will be technology, coddling them and treating them as if they're fragile and can't learn of a new context; why would you be talking to them about master-slave anyway if it wasn't relevant to the conversation - it's not even a scenario that would exist? So should the BDSM community stop using the terms master and slave, or it's okay in that context but not in a technology context? Curious if you have a double standard or if you'll change your mind. Edit to add: I truly hope you answer the BDSM question instead of the likely avoidance so you can maintain an irrational position.