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> That is why the definition of ribbing is "good-natured teasing". The problem is that there may not in fact be anything "good-natured" about it - on both side
by brazzy 5y ago
> That is why the definition of ribbing is "good-natured teasing".
The problem is that there may not in fact be anything "good-natured" about it - on both sides - yet the culture forces the recipient to act like it is or they will be punished.
In other words: the only way in which that kind of thing is not toxic is when a recipient can at any time say "that's not funny, stop it!", and the reaction will be a sincere apology and an actual stopping.
Now how often is that actually the case?
- pmarreck 5y agoLiterally my entire 80's high school experience is peppered with instances (at a constant rate) of being ribbed and being unable to say "that's not funny, stop it!" because it "wasn't cool". Are you saying my entire generation grew up in toxicity? I mean... It's entirely possible, even if it seemed more innocent at the time.
- ben_w 5y agoI’d say that, yes. Bluntly, the entire American school system looks pretty bad from the, in my case, outside perspective of someone who went though UK Catholic secondary school (‘secondary’ is an almost but not quite perfect match of US high school).