Things you learn.
Jan. 22nd, 2011 02:40 pmThe internet has taught me many, many things. Most of them are awesome (html, photoshop tricks, a few comms). Some of them I wish I could erase from my brain (goatse, 2girls1cup, Myspace). The biggest thing?
No matter how pissed off you are, never publish a rant until after you've had time to cool off, look it over and possibly talk it over with someone impartial.
Case in point: This post right here by![[livejournal.com profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
_dahne_.
While I don't agree with everything she said, I do agree with a few things. The major thing? Some people take the PC issue too damn far.
What happened to politeness and courtesy?
When did calling someone names and verbally or textually eviscerating that person for a more-than-likely unintentional mistake or slip-up become the acceptable social norm?
When did it go from "Hey, you shouldn't say that around here, we don't approve of it and here's why:" to "You ablist, elitist douchebag, take your white privilege and go fucking die, mmmkay."
When did it become right to tell someone that they couldn't be a POC/disabled/oppressed/wronged/etc because what you experienced wasn't as painful/hateful/wrong as what you experienced?
It's like those people on the one drama comm telling that woman that she couldn't a POC, even though she found out that one of her parents was, because she was raised white and didn't have to deal with racism and color boundaries. By that definition, my sister-in-law's adopted brother can't call himself Native American because he is being raised in a privileged white family in a privileged white neighborhood. And his birth mother still lives on the reservation.
Does this mean I can't call myself 'crazy' anymore? I've never been diagnosed and I'm not on meds.
Does this mean that saying my brother has a reading 'disability' is going to offend people because he's never been clinically diagnosed, except by the school counselor.
Does this mean that my family, as well-intentioned as they are in trying to learn about the issues, are transphobic because they don't completely understand trans and gender issues and the closest they've come to dealing with it is on television or through me talking about it? I know the differences and issues from talking with a dear friend and one of my former roommates, but my family? They're from small town Iowa, not a big city.
Seriously. When it gets to the point where people stop calmly and rationally explaining things to others, and start just throw around nasty names and labeling anyone who doesn't know every little aspect of an issue while trolling every comment and journal post they make, it becomes less about the issue, and more about who can be the biggest asshole to someone who made a mistake. When every little comment, word, THOUGHT is dissected and judged and labeled, whether right or wrong, it goes to far.
So, yeah, I agree with the heart of_dahne_'s post. If that means you don't want me on your flist, feel free to let me know in the comments, they will be screened.
No matter how pissed off you are, never publish a rant until after you've had time to cool off, look it over and possibly talk it over with someone impartial.
Case in point: This post right here by
_dahne_.While I don't agree with everything she said, I do agree with a few things. The major thing? Some people take the PC issue too damn far.
What happened to politeness and courtesy?
When did calling someone names and verbally or textually eviscerating that person for a more-than-likely unintentional mistake or slip-up become the acceptable social norm?
When did it go from "Hey, you shouldn't say that around here, we don't approve of it and here's why:" to "You ablist, elitist douchebag, take your white privilege and go fucking die, mmmkay."
When did it become right to tell someone that they couldn't be a POC/disabled/oppressed/wronged/etc because what you experienced wasn't as painful/hateful/wrong as what you experienced?
It's like those people on the one drama comm telling that woman that she couldn't a POC, even though she found out that one of her parents was, because she was raised white and didn't have to deal with racism and color boundaries. By that definition, my sister-in-law's adopted brother can't call himself Native American because he is being raised in a privileged white family in a privileged white neighborhood. And his birth mother still lives on the reservation.
Does this mean I can't call myself 'crazy' anymore? I've never been diagnosed and I'm not on meds.
Does this mean that saying my brother has a reading 'disability' is going to offend people because he's never been clinically diagnosed, except by the school counselor.
Does this mean that my family, as well-intentioned as they are in trying to learn about the issues, are transphobic because they don't completely understand trans and gender issues and the closest they've come to dealing with it is on television or through me talking about it? I know the differences and issues from talking with a dear friend and one of my former roommates, but my family? They're from small town Iowa, not a big city.
Seriously. When it gets to the point where people stop calmly and rationally explaining things to others, and start just throw around nasty names and labeling anyone who doesn't know every little aspect of an issue while trolling every comment and journal post they make, it becomes less about the issue, and more about who can be the biggest asshole to someone who made a mistake. When every little comment, word, THOUGHT is dissected and judged and labeled, whether right or wrong, it goes to far.
So, yeah, I agree with the heart of
_dahne_'s post. If that means you don't want me on your flist, feel free to let me know in the comments, they will be screened.
