7 ms·

"Girl" is an insult?

by Eliezer 18y ago

randallsquared 18y ago
Ah, pop culture.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
diN0bot 18y ago
snap. I guess the same could be said of "Emo," but programming has more of a history of (blithely) excluding females. I'm happy to see I'm not the only one who did a double take.
SirWart 18y ago
It's widely acknowledged among groups of boys that girls are the whinier sex.
- shadytrees 18y ago
  You can read more about this in Cooties 29:5881-5889.
- ahoyhere 18y ago
  Of course, because they're groups of boys. Duh.
mattmcknight 18y ago
"Boy" is also an insult (to a girl or a man or a woman).
- gaius 18y ago
  I wonder how Joel would react to someone using gay as a pejorative on his forums.
  - axod 18y ago
    I think these days 'gay' is just used to mean 'lame'. For example. "You're using VB? That's so gay". "You use K&R style? Don't be so gay". I wouldn't take offense personally. Just like being called a girl/boy/whatever isn't offensive, just funny.
    - diN0bot 18y ago
      > I think these days 'gay' is just used to mean 'lame'. and that doesn't seem wrong? 'lame' is at worst light namecalling (and at best it is just funny jabbing; verbal teasing is a fine part of socializing). on the other hand, if gays are always confronted with the lame stereotype it isn't exactly welcoming. it's easy to imagine group-think moving from self-aware funny stereotyping to habitual discrimination. ditto for 'girls are whinier'. it's a funny comment, which I personally up-voted. ultimately, the whole context of joel's quote was comedic and not directed at a person. writing this response has made me a little more thoughtful than goofy, so bear with this idea in the case of dealing directly with other people (eit): trivializing someone else's concerns is kind of antisocial. most disagreements between people, from nerd flame wars to crimes against humanity, at heart stem from an inability to see someone else's perspective. do you really want to be that person? the internet spreads information, but does it really help us connect with varied individuals and walk in other people's shoes? the least we can do is try. (apologies for getting so off topic. eit)
      - axod 18y ago
        "and that doesn't seem wrong?" Doesn't seem wrong to me, but I don't find words offensive. YMMV.
        diN0bot 18y ago
        do you not believe that derogatory words exist? maybe you see no reason to be angered or annoyed when someone calls you names, but handling words maturely does not mean that you haven't been insulted. let's suppose there is an objective truth out there. some people are lame and some people are not. calling someone "lame" who is not lame is wrong as in false. stereotypes allow for such falsehoods. the world is also more complicated than this simple logic. beyond (mythical) objective truth are the social interactions and even economic, political and medical disparities that are wrong and result from seeing only one's own perspective and whatever culture/habits/stereotypes we end up believing. in the case of "whining like emo girls" the goal was likely entertainment. was that worth the small but nonetheless derogatory slight against emo girls* ? we call our own shots. the rest of the article is somewhat angsty and desperate itself. joel tends towards entertainment and one-sidedness rather than well spoken and well thought out ideas. that's fine. i'm standing by my argument out of some larger principle. * funny, but "girls" probably means "non-macho guys". [edit: fixed formatting so footnote didn't italicize everything]
yters 18y ago
Why don't people get offended by usage of a term instead of the term itself?

"Girl" is an insult?

by Eliezer 18y ago

"Girl" is an insult?

randallsquared 18y ago

Ah, pop culture.

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

diN0bot 18y ago

snap. I guess the same could be said of "Emo," but programming has more of a history of (blithely) excluding females. I'm happy to see I'm not the only one who did a double take.

SirWart 18y ago

It's widely acknowledged among groups of boys that girls are the whinier sex.

shadytrees 18y ago
You can read more about this in Cooties 29:5881-5889.
ahoyhere 18y ago
Of course, because they're groups of boys. Duh.

mattmcknight 18y ago

"Boy" is also an insult (to a girl or a man or a woman).

gaius 18y ago
I wonder how Joel would react to someone using gay as a pejorative on his forums.
- axod 18y ago
  I think these days 'gay' is just used to mean 'lame'. For example. "You're using VB? That's so gay". "You use K&R style? Don't be so gay". I wouldn't take offense personally. Just like being called a girl/boy/whatever isn't offensive, just funny.
  - diN0bot 18y ago
    > I think these days 'gay' is just used to mean 'lame'. and that doesn't seem wrong? 'lame' is at worst light namecalling (and at best it is just funny jabbing; verbal teasing is a fine part of socializing). on the other hand, if gays are always confronted with the lame stereotype it isn't exactly welcoming. it's easy to imagine group-think moving from self-aware funny stereotyping to habitual discrimination. ditto for 'girls are whinier'. it's a funny comment, which I personally up-voted. ultimately, the whole context of joel's quote was comedic and not directed at a person. writing this response has made me a little more thoughtful than goofy, so bear with this idea in the case of dealing directly with other people (eit): trivializing someone else's concerns is kind of antisocial. most disagreements between people, from nerd flame wars to crimes against humanity, at heart stem from an inability to see someone else's perspective. do you really want to be that person? the internet spreads information, but does it really help us connect with varied individuals and walk in other people's shoes? the least we can do is try. (apologies for getting so off topic. eit)
    - axod 18y ago
      "and that doesn't seem wrong?" Doesn't seem wrong to me, but I don't find words offensive. YMMV.
      - diN0bot 18y ago
        do you not believe that derogatory words exist? maybe you see no reason to be angered or annoyed when someone calls you names, but handling words maturely does not mean that you haven't been insulted. let's suppose there is an objective truth out there. some people are lame and some people are not. calling someone "lame" who is not lame is wrong as in false. stereotypes allow for such falsehoods. the world is also more complicated than this simple logic. beyond (mythical) objective truth are the social interactions and even economic, political and medical disparities that are wrong and result from seeing only one's own perspective and whatever culture/habits/stereotypes we end up believing. in the case of "whining like emo girls" the goal was likely entertainment. was that worth the small but nonetheless derogatory slight against emo girls* ? we call our own shots. the rest of the article is somewhat angsty and desperate itself. joel tends towards entertainment and one-sidedness rather than well spoken and well thought out ideas. that's fine. i'm standing by my argument out of some larger principle. * funny, but "girls" probably means "non-macho guys". [edit: fixed formatting so footnote didn't italicize everything]

yters 18y ago

Why don't people get offended by usage of a term instead of the term itself?