now where did I put my daggers?
My friends are beyond stupid. Or maybe it's me.
Disclaimer: this has nothing, at all, to do with anyone on LJ.
Problem the first:
I posted a picture of me and my intended up on Facebook over Christmas and my friend, who is gay, posted a comment saying: "You two will have very cute Aryan children someday."
Wha~~~~ WTF? Aryan children??? From my gay friend??? Sorry, did you skip your high school history classes?
Okay, now what he meant to say was that my intended and I will have very attractive blonde-haired, blue-eyed babies of Nordic decent, the original speakers of Indo-European languages. He chose the word "aryan" because he believes that a word's meaning only has positive connotations when used in positive situations. So, by his logic, the word "negro" isn't an offensive term because it actually means "black" in Spanish.
Yea. In Spanish. Sorry dear, but you're ignoring how many years of history here to dig up some sort of 'positive connotation' that exists pretty much solely in your own mind. Unless you are actually a Spanish speaker, living in a Spanish country, you can't use the word "negro" and expect good things to happen. Take the word "gay" for example. It's literal meaning is happy. Is that how's it used these days? No, it's not. Has it become an offensive slur? Yes, it has. So should you be using gay with its literal meaning? No, probably not unless you enjoy being seen as a) either homophobic or b) silly bordering on outright blind to how the word is used. Plus if you're looking at the physical and geographic use of the word aryan, it's still not particularly applicable. I mean, it's just saying "you will have cute babies with skin that is a shade of white". There are better words out there. Expand the vocabulary to include them.
*head. freaking. desk*
Oh,the majority of this was said on FB; I'm just reposting it here because LJ is a much better place to vent.
Problem the Second:
I posted this on FB:
"I'm chanelling my inner Lisa Simpson: when I get married, I'm keeping my own name."
To which a male friend of mine says:
[paraphrased] "You know, that's kind of insulting to your husband. I hate feminists."
To which another friend replied with this epic upon epic of statements:
"Good for you, Hilary. There's no reason to continue outdated and archaic traditions that symbolise and re-affirm the idea that women are property, to be handed from man to man. The only other 'reason' I can find for it is that it 'demonstrates a commitment to the marriage'. Funny how men don't have to demonstrate a similar commitment, eh? And as for how it's 'insulting' to keep your own name, I've no idea. It doesn't insult me that any man I date would want to keep his own name, so logically, any man I date shouldn't be insulted by me wanting to keep my own name. I hope by show you mean intensive re-education to eradicate regressive, discriminatory and patriarchal attitudes. In which case I agree, it would be hilarious. Perhaps by the time we're through, we *might* even be able to convince him that women are in fact worth the same as men, instead of being chattel. I mean, really. Because I am in possession of a vagina, statistically speaking, I will only make 76 percent of the wage that a man in the same position as I would. Moreover, we're god knows how many times more likely to be raped/assaulted/murdered/experience domestic violence.... Not to mention the numerous other issues that women face in this world. And this only dealing with *western caucasian* women. Women of colour in the west have even more problems than we do. And what is the response? "oooh, I hate feminists". So you hate the fact that there's injustice in this world, and people point it out, and act to fix it? I have names for people like that, and none of them are complimentary. Yeah, there's been progress. But progress is not the same as equality, and it never will be until people RECOGNISE what's going on, recognise that they're coming from a position of privilege that informs and biases all of their viewpoints, and do something to rectify that. Willful ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for entrenching yourself in backwards attitudes."
So my male friend PMs me with this message:
"your friends bitch an complain an say men and EVERYONE else should blah blah blah an they don't listen to other points an arguements they just fight an fight an fight without properly getting ACTUAL facts and yes i know this from a few months ago argueing with them... they just say oh well thats how it used to be an well now you need to bend to the will of women and then they attack the person not the arguement... thus why i hate feminists."
I PMed him back with this response:
"dude, i'm not saying you're not entitled to your opinion, i would never say that. i don't even care really. you're getting mad at me because of what my friend said. you know, you said that you have every right to say whatever you want and dude, i totally agree with that. but so does she. and so do i. and whether or not you agree with what we're saying gives us no less right to say it. dude, i'm not saying you're not entitled to your opinion, i would never say that. i don't even care really. you're getting mad at me because of what my friend said. you know, you said that you have every right to say whatever you want and dude, i totally agree with that. but so does she. and so do i. and whether or not you agree with what we're saying gives us no less right to say it."
(O___o)o---(@w@)/
So the solution is to what? Grab a jar of doom glitter and a bat and have at it with tasty, satisfying murder and then sit in my jail cell afterwards thinking about how tasty and satisfying that was??? Yea. I thought so too.
Unless it's me.
Disclaimer: this has nothing, at all, to do with anyone on LJ.
Problem the first:
I posted a picture of me and my intended up on Facebook over Christmas and my friend, who is gay, posted a comment saying: "You two will have very cute Aryan children someday."
Wha~~~~ WTF? Aryan children??? From my gay friend??? Sorry, did you skip your high school history classes?
Okay, now what he meant to say was that my intended and I will have very attractive blonde-haired, blue-eyed babies of Nordic decent, the original speakers of Indo-European languages. He chose the word "aryan" because he believes that a word's meaning only has positive connotations when used in positive situations. So, by his logic, the word "negro" isn't an offensive term because it actually means "black" in Spanish.
Yea. In Spanish. Sorry dear, but you're ignoring how many years of history here to dig up some sort of 'positive connotation' that exists pretty much solely in your own mind. Unless you are actually a Spanish speaker, living in a Spanish country, you can't use the word "negro" and expect good things to happen. Take the word "gay" for example. It's literal meaning is happy. Is that how's it used these days? No, it's not. Has it become an offensive slur? Yes, it has. So should you be using gay with its literal meaning? No, probably not unless you enjoy being seen as a) either homophobic or b) silly bordering on outright blind to how the word is used. Plus if you're looking at the physical and geographic use of the word aryan, it's still not particularly applicable. I mean, it's just saying "you will have cute babies with skin that is a shade of white". There are better words out there. Expand the vocabulary to include them.
*head. freaking. desk*
Oh,the majority of this was said on FB; I'm just reposting it here because LJ is a much better place to vent.
Problem the Second:
I posted this on FB:
"I'm chanelling my inner Lisa Simpson: when I get married, I'm keeping my own name."
To which a male friend of mine says:
[paraphrased] "You know, that's kind of insulting to your husband. I hate feminists."
To which another friend replied with this epic upon epic of statements:
"Good for you, Hilary. There's no reason to continue outdated and archaic traditions that symbolise and re-affirm the idea that women are property, to be handed from man to man. The only other 'reason' I can find for it is that it 'demonstrates a commitment to the marriage'. Funny how men don't have to demonstrate a similar commitment, eh? And as for how it's 'insulting' to keep your own name, I've no idea. It doesn't insult me that any man I date would want to keep his own name, so logically, any man I date shouldn't be insulted by me wanting to keep my own name. I hope by show you mean intensive re-education to eradicate regressive, discriminatory and patriarchal attitudes. In which case I agree, it would be hilarious. Perhaps by the time we're through, we *might* even be able to convince him that women are in fact worth the same as men, instead of being chattel. I mean, really. Because I am in possession of a vagina, statistically speaking, I will only make 76 percent of the wage that a man in the same position as I would. Moreover, we're god knows how many times more likely to be raped/assaulted/murdered/experience domestic violence.... Not to mention the numerous other issues that women face in this world. And this only dealing with *western caucasian* women. Women of colour in the west have even more problems than we do. And what is the response? "oooh, I hate feminists". So you hate the fact that there's injustice in this world, and people point it out, and act to fix it? I have names for people like that, and none of them are complimentary. Yeah, there's been progress. But progress is not the same as equality, and it never will be until people RECOGNISE what's going on, recognise that they're coming from a position of privilege that informs and biases all of their viewpoints, and do something to rectify that. Willful ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for entrenching yourself in backwards attitudes."
So my male friend PMs me with this message:
"your friends bitch an complain an say men and EVERYONE else should blah blah blah an they don't listen to other points an arguements they just fight an fight an fight without properly getting ACTUAL facts and yes i know this from a few months ago argueing with them... they just say oh well thats how it used to be an well now you need to bend to the will of women and then they attack the person not the arguement... thus why i hate feminists."
I PMed him back with this response:
"dude, i'm not saying you're not entitled to your opinion, i would never say that. i don't even care really. you're getting mad at me because of what my friend said. you know, you said that you have every right to say whatever you want and dude, i totally agree with that. but so does she. and so do i. and whether or not you agree with what we're saying gives us no less right to say it. dude, i'm not saying you're not entitled to your opinion, i would never say that. i don't even care really. you're getting mad at me because of what my friend said. you know, you said that you have every right to say whatever you want and dude, i totally agree with that. but so does she. and so do i. and whether or not you agree with what we're saying gives us no less right to say it."
(O___o)o---(@w@)/
So the solution is to what? Grab a jar of doom glitter and a bat and have at it with tasty, satisfying murder and then sit in my jail cell afterwards thinking about how tasty and satisfying that was??? Yea. I thought so too.
Unless it's me.