Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3941-3945 (18-22 February 2019)
War Sparrow:
--- Quote from: chris73 on 22 Feb 2019, 21:50 ---
Yeah I dunno, it just sounds like another excuse for people to be offended. I've just started work as a corrections officer and one of my colleagues is Indian but has an African accent so I asked where he was from and it turns out he was from South Africa so we talked about the differences between SA and NZ but then to work in corrections you cant be too precious about minor, unimportant things I guess
--- End quote ---
To me, it's not about being "precious". I was just taught it's not polite to basically demand someone justify their right to be somewhere just because they have a different accent, or skin colour, or whatnot. If someone brings it up themselves, then absolutely I'll ask. If not? Then it's none of my business.
Case:
--- Quote from: chris73 on 22 Feb 2019, 21:50 ---When something upsets a lot of people, even if you cannot understand why, it's best simply not to do it.
Yeah I dunno, it j6ust sounds like another excuse for people to be offended. I've just started work as a corrections officer and one of my colleagues is Indian but has an African accent so I asked where he was from and it turns out he was from South Africa so we talked about the differences between SA and NZ but then to work in corrections you cant be too precious about minor, unimportant things I guess
--- End quote ---
Do you realize that you have just claimed that asking someone else's heritage isn't offensive based on your one experience of you asking an immigrant with a non-white heritage and them not telling you off?
Like ... even if we forget for a second that the plural of anecdote isn't data - or that the debate was about the offense implicit in treating non-white compatriots like immigrants - maybe their opinion of the alleged incident would be more pertinent than yours?
It's not all just about what's going around in our own precious noggin, see?
PeterO:
--- Quote from: Drunken Old Man on 22 Feb 2019, 00:27 ---Speaking as some one who has spent twenty years in the field, it irks me when people misuse perfectly valid medical terminology. Mental retardation was fine as a term until asshats ruined it by using it as a pejorative, now they're destroying autism as well. The result? Professionals like Brun's doctor sound like insensitive jerks when they're just trying to deliver a diagnosis.
Don't even get me started on "aspies". That phrase makes me want to shove someone's head in a propellor.
--- End quote ---
I think all terms for "people who are different" gradually become perjorative or at least less socially acceptable over time. And, yes, it is the asshats who start the problem, followed closely by well intentioned people who then stop using the term because the asshats use it perjoratively. At that point a formerly acceptable term is no longer acceptable. Extra annoying when it is valid science or engineering terminology.
My teacher friend showed me a letter she got a few years ago from school administration that roughly said "please stop using the terms retarded or mentally retarded, some people find them offensive. You should use developmentally delayed instead" The punch line is she then showed me a similar letter she got twentyfive years ago that said "please stop using the terms slow or feebleminded, people find them offensive. Use retarded or mentally retarded instead"
Is it cold in here?:
This is a great example of where the Golden Rule doesn't guide you correctly.
If someone asks pale white me "Where are you from?" in an economically vibrant area where most people are not natives, it's OK.
That doesn't mean I can ask someone else without risking genuine offense. It's not going to come across as being about geography for many non-white people.
Asking when there's an actual reason or the person has brought it up should be all right. The tailor who did my Harry Hart costume eventually starting chatting with my wife about skin care and said something about how "we Asian women" took that seriously. My wife asked the open-ended question what her "heritage" was, and the tailor was pleased with the question.
If I'd walked in the first day with my photo references and said "Where are you from? No, ethnically?" I would have provided solid grounds for significant offense.
los_alamos_bomb:
American here. Lived all over the country, many regions, small towns and big cities. Clarifying so our friends from Europe and Australia don't get the wrong idea.
It's not offensive to ask someone their ethnic heritage here. It's a fairly common topic of civilized discussion. I ask my white friends about theirs ("Irish and German" is a legitimate answer) and they ask about mine. I ask my brown friends and they ask about mine. I ask my friends of all colors and shapes and sizes (well, it's tough to have that conversation with African-Americans, simply because there's usually no way for them to know. America's great tragedy and national shame and all that). I can't remember a time when there's been any kind of hurt feelings or animosity as a result. These are perfectly lovely conversations. Sometimes they last 30 seconds, sometimes hours.
This is something that bugs me about Jeph's particular brand of wokeness: the assumption that if you can find a way to be insulted by something, you should. To be honest, Brun's matter-of-fact reaction to Peter's question about her ethnicity seemed totally legit. If she doesn't want to have an emotional stake in answering that question, then she doesn't have to. Sure, Peter's take on the issue of ethnicity (ie. "Tell me your heritage so I can get a boner over it") is reductive and depersonalizing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that curiosity about someone's genetic background is bad overall.
Look, using someone's racial heritage as a way to otherize them sucks. Don't do it. And if someone approaches it in that way ("Where are you from? No, but I mean where are you from? Tell me where you come from, strange one!") then you have every right to shut them down. But don't get so wrapped up in your fears of persecution that persecution becomes self-fulfilling. I play acoustic guitar and I like ultimate frisbee and part of my family is from Istanbul. These are all parts of me, and if someone wants to get to know me better, why would I get upset at them for it? I don't get mad when someone asks if I play a musical instrument or what sports I like, so why would I get mad when they ask about my family's history?
It's ok to be interested in people. It's ok to be curious about people. It's ok to be attracted to people. It's ok to ask about people. There is no set of things that are inherently wrong to be interested in or curious about or attracted to. Be polite, be kind, be understanding, and move forward.
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