A while back there was a thread about eliminating intelligence-based insults from our vocab. Words like "Dumb", "stupid", etc.

https://hexbear.net/post/15636

My gut instinct to this was to get angry, and berate the OP u/QuillQuote for his ideas. I insulted him, I called him dumb, and when he pm'd me, I dismissed all his arguments and called him dumb again. Then he told me to go fuck myself and I told him I would masturbate later

Since then I actually thought a little about the issue and I began to see their point. An intelligence-based insult is fundamentally wrong, because it concerns something that cannot be controlled.

Insults about race, gender, and sexuality are all de facto verboten here because they target traits that can't be controlled--and I agree.

Intelligence can't be controlled either. And intelligence is actually one of the most disadvantaging traits to be handicapped by. Ditto for appearance.

Likewise, AGE cannot be controlled either, you only age in one direction and that's it. If I was 55, there's nothing I can do to be more like a 30 year old. MOREOVER, some people actually have inborn disabilities that make them age faster, with some 10 year old children having the biological age of a 40 year old adult.

So I'm making the proposition that we should attempt to eliminate these words from our arsenal of insults. Words like "dumb", "stupid", "boomer", "ugly", "short", are all words that target people on traits that they cannot control, and worse, they insult other bystanders in the process who may have committed no offense.

In fact, I called someone a boomer jokingly just a few minutes ago. That was the trigger that made me think about this. I apologize if my words hurt anyone.

  • PM_ME_YOUR_FOUCAULTS [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I didn't downvote this thread (necessary disclaimer apparently because people are taking being downvoted as very serious business for some reason), but I am asking seriously if the baseline for our verbal content should be "Is it possible that anyone anywhere might be hurt by it?"

    I want to be sensitive to others, but I also want a space where people can call Pete Buttigieg a horrible rat freak without worrying too much about it. And not to speak for everyone, but I'm short and I'm fine with mocking Ben Shapiro for being short. Why? Because tying your worth as a person to some imagined ideal standard is fash shit, and I'm not fash (but he is). I'm fine with calling Joe Biden old not because being old is bad, but because it deserves to be pointed out that the person who is asking to be installed as president is visibly senile person with no ideas and a million skeletons in his closet.

    I responded positively to Quill's earlier thread (even if I didn't fully agree) because he spoke from his experience, and I respect that. I can't say the same about this post because it's primarily engaged in arguing that hypothetically someone somewhere might be hurt by this language (including the implication we shouldn't call Biden old because people with progeria might be hurt which is... a take I guess.) If actual comrades want to speak out about how this language affects them, I'm certainly willing to listen. I think you meant well with this post, but while I don't want Chapo to be a space where people are made unwelcome by the discourse, I also don't want it to be a place where comrades are judged more by the manner in which they express themselves than the content of what they're saying.

    • KiaKaha [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I responded positively to Quill’s earlier thread (even if I didn’t fully agree) because he spoke from his experience, and I respect that. I can’t say the same about this post because it’s primarily engaged in arguing that hypothetically someone somewhere might be hurt by this language (including the implication we shouldn’t call Biden old because people with progeria might be hurt which is… a take I guess.) If actual comrades want to speak out about how this language affects them, I’m certainly willing to listen

      Just gonna say, this part resonates with me.

      If an affected comrade voices a complaint about something specific, we should reconsider in that instance. Otherwise it’s fair game. (And boomers don’t get a say—sorry folks, I’m not willing to bury that hatchet.)

      • QuillQuote [they/them]
        3·
        4 years ago

        After what happened when I spoke up last time and some reactions to this post, that's a pretty big ask. I don't think most people get just how hard it is to talk about this stuff when the typical reaction to it is what it has been. I've talked to a lot of my friends and comrades about what happened, and the chilling effect is very real, and very very disheartening

        I'd never ask one of my nd comrades to voice their concern if it could get them dogpiled and invalidated en masse.

        And I'll point out again that this isn't even in reference to people using intelligence based insults, but how they react to the mere suggestion of avoiding it on a personal level.

        • KiaKaha [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Yeah, there’s been some reactionary elements here, even if the overall response has come out positive. And this is probably one of the more progressive places outside of explicitly ND spaces, which only says how bad the reaction must be elsewhere.

          I’m more saying, now that you’ve raised intelligence-based stuff, I’ll try to avoid those.