some things have to hurt or they're not true
A note: there are some words that I believe have a legitimate use, but that use has grown so open and so offensive that I no longer trust the word when I see it. One of those words is 'whine'. When I see the word 'whiny' being used to describe someone or something, chances are it's being used to describe: A) a woman talking about her emotions, pick any emotion that you wish, B) a man talking about emotions that are coded as feminine, like sadness or anxiety or insecurity, or C) any minority discussing the problems they face in normal life.
When I think of 'whining', I think of someone constantly and repetitively complaining about insignificant or irrelevant problems, like a flat tire, the wrong flavor ice cream, or a bad hairstylist.
But people call Shinji from Evangelion 'whiny' because he has an emotional breakdown in a post-apocalyptic situation compounded with legitimate abandonment issues because his father's an emotionless, sociopathic dick. Zuko's 'whiny' because he is hurt and angry and upset, and his family fucked him up. A man who cries or discusses his emotions is 'whiny'. A woman who talks about her anger or sorrow or pain is 'whiny' and needs to shut up. A person with a disability who discusses how their disability makes it difficult or even impossible to achieve tasks that people take for granted as being 'normal' is, apparently, 'whining'.
'Whining' is now a word used by people to attempt to invalidate and dismiss the emotions and concerns of others, and I've become so accustomed to seeing it used that way that I automatically cringe whenever I see it used as a descriptor, even when I see it used accurately.
When I think of 'whining', I think of someone constantly and repetitively complaining about insignificant or irrelevant problems, like a flat tire, the wrong flavor ice cream, or a bad hairstylist.
But people call Shinji from Evangelion 'whiny' because he has an emotional breakdown in a post-apocalyptic situation compounded with legitimate abandonment issues because his father's an emotionless, sociopathic dick. Zuko's 'whiny' because he is hurt and angry and upset, and his family fucked him up. A man who cries or discusses his emotions is 'whiny'. A woman who talks about her anger or sorrow or pain is 'whiny' and needs to shut up. A person with a disability who discusses how their disability makes it difficult or even impossible to achieve tasks that people take for granted as being 'normal' is, apparently, 'whining'.
'Whining' is now a word used by people to attempt to invalidate and dismiss the emotions and concerns of others, and I've become so accustomed to seeing it used that way that I automatically cringe whenever I see it used as a descriptor, even when I see it used accurately.