3 ms·

I've heard an uptick in derogatory terms being thrown around recently and while unsurprising, it sure is sad. Recent events... - Went to a concert, an underag

by codyb 9mo ago

I've heard an uptick in derogatory terms being thrown around recently and while unsurprising, it sure is sad. Recent events... - Went to a concert, an underage kid with a fake ID couldn't get a beer, turned to me and goes "Isn't this guy a f----" Uh... well, he may be making your night less enjoyable, but I don't see why gay people have to catch strays cause of it... "I don't think I'd call anyone that" was my response, and "it's okay to be gay" was a follow up - My boss said something was retarded. I'm a bit wishy washy on the r-word myself as, while I'm friends with people with Down Syndrome and other maladies, it never occurred to me to relate the word to them (especially since they're generally really very nice people) It's similar to how I never associated the word spaz with... I dunno what it is... multiple sclerosis or whatever, apparently that's a very common association in the UK, but I'd never heard of it (the association) But now I've stopped using it entirely, although in this case I did not correct my boss (who I respect as a person and enjoy working for very much) - One of my other friends called something "gay" recently "Don't call things gay bro" was my response. As my mom explained to me in sixth grade "even though you don't really even have an idea what it means to be gay, when you say that negative things are gay, you're implying that being gay is negative, but gay people just are themselves and don't deserve that" I became the "don't say gay kid" at school after that and I'm damned proud of it All these losers trying to turn back the times to put gay people back in the closet give me "peaked in middle school" vibes, and it's sad to see that it's also slowly becoming normalized with people who I don't even think have that inclination or care to say prejudiced shit again too

mrec 9mo ago
> I never associated the word spaz with... I dunno what it is... multiple sclerosis or whatever Usually cerebral palsy, I think, or (less commonly) epilepsy. I'm not sure it's still that common in the UK; I don't think I've heard it in the wild since the 80s [1], though some of that may just reflect the people I talk to as I get older. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Deacon#Blue_Peter_and_cultural_impact https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Deacon#Blue_Peter_and_cul...
- codyb 9mo ago
  Yea that's it... definitely wasn't on our minds when we were 14 in middle school in America lol
Dig1t 9mo ago
Language police are extremely uncool; going around telling people which words they are allowed to use mostly just hurts your own cause. It has the exact same effect that an old Christian woman scolding kids not to use swear words has. Eventually people realize that your magic words give them power and it becomes cool and useful to start using them in the exact opposite way you want them to. The only way for you to achieve the goal of making sure nobody’s feelings are hurt by words is to take away the power of the words. You only give the words MORE power by reacting to them.
- codyb 9mo ago
  Huge eyeroll. Who said anything about scolding anyone lol. I responded very calmly. I'm sorry, but you'll never win me over that the world be a better place if only we could bring back overtly prejudiced speech. Actions have consequences. You can say whatever the hell you want, but doesn't mean you deserve respect, or not to be corrected, or not to face the consequences of saying overtly bigoted words. The fact is... calling negative things gay implies being gay is bad, and therefore we should stop calling negative things gay if we want to support all the good people in the LGBTQ community.
  - Dig1t 9mo ago
    OP’s words exactly: >I became the "don't say gay kid" at school after that Making a point of trying to shame other people for using words you don’t like is a losing game in the long run. The “actions have consequences” argument is what lead us to where we are now where you can see an obvious backlash. Heck the papa John’s pizza guy got fired for using a magic word in an obviously non-derogatory way, and it was the same “actions have consequences” mentality even though basically nobody would be genuinely offended by his usage of it. If you continue to make a big deal out of every usage of gay and retarded those words will only grow in power and popularity because you are showing someone that they have the power to get you to freak out if they use them. You can see the opposite effect with traditional swear words, which are so used in popular media that they have lost almost all of their power.
    - 9mo ago
BLKNSLVR 9mo ago
Something I've noticed under Trump is how a country's leadership does actually affect the behavior of the people under that leadership. Trump's openly crude behavior is normalizing such behavior amongst the impressionable. And society will be worse for it for a long time to come.
- UncleMeat 9mo ago
  Yep. One of the things that is appealing about Trump to his voters is that he gives them license to be mean in public.
- patmorgan23 9mo ago
  Yeah people in positions of power and leaders model what acceptable behavior is for the rest of the group.
happymellon 9mo ago
> It's similar to how I never associated the word spaz with... I dunno what it is... multiple sclerosis or whatever, apparently that's a very common association in the UK, but I'd never heard of it (the association) It is a shortening of spastic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scope_(charity) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scope_(charity)

by codyb 9mo ago

mrec 9mo ago

> I never associated the word spaz with... I dunno what it is... multiple sclerosis or whatever Usually cerebral palsy, I think, or (less commonly) epilepsy. I'm not sure it's still that common in the UK; I don't think I've heard it in the wild since the 80s [1], though some of that may just reflect the people I talk to as I get older. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Deacon#Blue_Peter_and_cultural_impact https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Deacon#Blue_Peter_and_cul...

codyb 9mo ago
Yea that's it... definitely wasn't on our minds when we were 14 in middle school in America lol

Dig1t 9mo ago

Language police are extremely uncool; going around telling people which words they are allowed to use mostly just hurts your own cause. It has the exact same effect that an old Christian woman scolding kids not to use swear words has. Eventually people realize that your magic words give them power and it becomes cool and useful to start using them in the exact opposite way you want them to. The only way for you to achieve the goal of making sure nobody’s feelings are hurt by words is to take away the power of the words. You only give the words MORE power by reacting to them.

codyb 9mo ago
Huge eyeroll. Who said anything about scolding anyone lol. I responded very calmly. I'm sorry, but you'll never win me over that the world be a better place if only we could bring back overtly prejudiced speech. Actions have consequences. You can say whatever the hell you want, but doesn't mean you deserve respect, or not to be corrected, or not to face the consequences of saying overtly bigoted words. The fact is... calling negative things gay implies being gay is bad, and therefore we should stop calling negative things gay if we want to support all the good people in the LGBTQ community.
- Dig1t 9mo ago
  OP’s words exactly: >I became the "don't say gay kid" at school after that Making a point of trying to shame other people for using words you don’t like is a losing game in the long run. The “actions have consequences” argument is what lead us to where we are now where you can see an obvious backlash. Heck the papa John’s pizza guy got fired for using a magic word in an obviously non-derogatory way, and it was the same “actions have consequences” mentality even though basically nobody would be genuinely offended by his usage of it. If you continue to make a big deal out of every usage of gay and retarded those words will only grow in power and popularity because you are showing someone that they have the power to get you to freak out if they use them. You can see the opposite effect with traditional swear words, which are so used in popular media that they have lost almost all of their power.
  - 9mo ago

BLKNSLVR 9mo ago

Something I've noticed under Trump is how a country's leadership does actually affect the behavior of the people under that leadership. Trump's openly crude behavior is normalizing such behavior amongst the impressionable. And society will be worse for it for a long time to come.

UncleMeat 9mo ago
Yep. One of the things that is appealing about Trump to his voters is that he gives them license to be mean in public.
patmorgan23 9mo ago
Yeah people in positions of power and leaders model what acceptable behavior is for the rest of the group.

happymellon 9mo ago

> It's similar to how I never associated the word spaz with... I dunno what it is... multiple sclerosis or whatever, apparently that's a very common association in the UK, but I'd never heard of it (the association) It is a shortening of spastic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scope_(charity) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scope_(charity)