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hey, we're getting somewhere. You and I aren't scraping :)
Post #25, the moderator calls you on it. Why bother denying it?
..the issue of using the word "chicks" in public forums has been settled long ago. i hope that will not change here.
..i've been eager to see where this thread will lead and would like it to see it move forward.
I call my friends chicks all the time. I know, it is not the politically correct thing to do. That being said I usually don't refer to other females as chicks when I am in large groups or around too many guys. I don't even have an issue with guys calling woman chicks. It all depends on the context.
E. Tamaran, can we move past the stuff from before and try to form a bond? I'm being serious. Yes it's a little hippy dippy but that's me.
rabble.ca is lucky to have the poster skdadl who expresses a level of maturity and wisdom that is refreshing and thought provoking....
Maysie asked me not to use the word "barbaric" and I agreed that I wouldn't. I made no comment about FN culture (except that I don't approve of the seal hunt). Try to read what people actually write. You embarrass yourself otherwise.
rabble.ca is very lucky to have g muffin around here too...
Okay, well, my mistake then. I don't know, what the heck. I've had complaints in the past about "chick" being used on babble, and yet I use it too online and in real life! So maybe it's one of those "previously sexist" words that has lost its sting or been rehabilitated enough.
Skdadl bought forward an important point of context regarding the issue of word origins, which I thought was central to the typical downward side of the trajectory, from the initial optimism of candid anti-oppression dialogue to the untenable exhibitions normally encountered here. In terms of improving the dialectics, it's useful to consider the value of an elementary grasp of etymology before wading in with turns of phrase consisting of everyday words which pass through the discussion, ones that mean little to us except as a common manner of expression, but for others are instinctively understood from experience to mean something far from benign.
I don't know, I think "chick" coming from any regular poster here would be understood to be ironic. I took it as such from Al-Q. Coming from a newbie, however, there would be suspicion.
"Barbaric", however...we need that word. It so aptly describes so many regressive trends in the world today - better than most other words I can think of.
Keep in mind, though, that "barbaric" means something bad that "the other" (Thracian, Scythian, Muslim, White Male etc., etc.) does.
I thought it funny that George Orwell, after much criticism of using non-English words or words with non Anglo-Saxon origins - among other sins, wrapped up his "Politics and the English Language" with a set of rules of language use. His last rule was "Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous."
I like to think he did that deliberately.
The words I bolded are a good way to put it, but more than that I was struck by another life experience memory it brought to the fore.
One can also ascribe the same "understood from experience" to non-verbal communications too, and by this I do not mean angry, or menacing, looks/behaviour that trigger a person who was abused, but also suggestive, or what one would think of as loving/amorous looks, or faciial expressions too.
A person I know simply cannot deal with people, either in real life or in TV/movies, who give suggestive/amorous looks to one another, and especially not one way looks.
Her father started giving her those looks when she was 5 years old and he never stopped with them until she ran away at 18. As such, all such "amorous" looks to her have a sinister and scarey trigger component. And seeing such for her can/could trigger months of self-induced vomitting, or other self-punishing behaviour.
one never knows what a trigger could be in our interpersonal dialogues, may they be verbal or non.
And triggers are largely unconscious and can be very sudden in their outbreak. And you cannot blame the victim for that too
My fear is that people tidy up their language and then consider their work done. As a "person living with a mental illness," I can tell you that this burns. Call me crazy, by all means, just treat me decently -- that's all we're asking for.
..please help a newbie understand.
..#45 used the word "chicks"
..#46 asked #45 not to use the word
..the moderator came out against the use of the word
..there was some folk who said they used it in there lives
..then the moderator said that maybe it was ok.
..this doesn't feel right. what just happened here?
Seems that a commonly expressed word has been re-considered in this particular instance, in light of the circumstance in which it was offered. Sometimes familiarity among individuals can provide insight as to intent, changing what would normally be taken as offensive in one context into something else in another. Decisions are not always infallible, and on a case by case basis with an ear to the ground so to speak, subject to change upon review, which suggests an effort towards facilitating a healthier atmosphere more so than what might be accomplished with the zero tolerance approach in every case without regard for the setting, despite being aware of the impossibility of satisfying everyone.
Personally, I use "chick" as a compliment.
..slumberjack i like what you are saying. i just need to be around some more and see for myself if this is so.
Nothing happened actually...other than several of us "chicks" indicated that we did not see the use of "chicks" by Al'Q as demeaning personally. Thereby indicating to Al'Q we took no offense.
But we all indicated that: it still should not be used here by men, no matter the circumstance, and agreed with the moderators statement that it should not be, as women are not all of one mind on this, circumstance counts, and there is viewer participation that also might not be comfortable with it's use by a man, or men, especially by those who would be new to the community.
Well said, Remind. :)
OK, this is really just dumb in a way. Sorry for stepping away. In a thread about adding voices it's been derailed to "chicks" from males is ok?
It was totally unnecessary to make the point. Sorry, my humour isn't always the best and it's not about what "long-time babblers" should get about irony.
It's usually used as a perjorative from males.
Interestingly, the first time I read the post I didn't find it complimentary at all.
As always, it depends on what was meant.
RP, currently, I have no humour, along with no talent, too much nonsense and isms happening in real life and indeed here, for humour to kick in, plus I am seeing the dentist later this am, and that always makes me in a bad mood for a few days in advance.
In respect to Al'Q's use of the word "chick", he should not have, you are absolutely correct in that. However, he did, but most women saw it in the light he used it in, so no 'serious' affront was taken by the "many" of us still participating here.
Now I do not know if that means we have thicker skins, or that as a community member, we understood what he was indicating was not offensive.
Perhaps it means thicker skins, as we are still here while a good many are not.
At any rate, for me his use of "chicks" was not a big enough fish to fry, when there is so many other bigger isms going on here.
Biggerism, smallerism, medium-size ism. Can't we all just get along?