And MST3K has since updated the name. From your link:
This version of the character was eventually renamed “GPC,” due to increased understanding that the term “Gypsy” is offensive to some people of Romani origin.[2][3][4] Joel has since begun referring to the smaller version of GPC as “GPC 2,” and retroactively referring to the larger version formerly known as “Gypsy” as “GPC 1.”[5]
What do you think most people are afraid of, here? Not being fired, not primarily. They are afraid of embarrassment, of being judged, of looking ignorant. And yes, of offending people, too. It’s not a big problem for you because you mostly know what is safe, what is dubious, and what is totally beyond the pale. But not everyone is so well informed.
I hope you can appreciate that I keep trying to move past the obviously biased article which prompted the OP and talk about the merits/pitfalls of the BU PARC guidance.
Are you saying that someone like @storyteller0910 should not share with colleagues how they learned that “actors who sing” is used insultingly in some circles, and to be aware that there may be some performers who dislike being referred to in that way?
So, this great fear, is that of the possibility of being made a tiny bit uncomfortable?
The fear of making someone a tiny bit uncomfortable is the entire rationale for most those PC proposals.
I definitely did not. I read part of the quotes you supplied, which included references to older Asians using the term Oriental. If Asian falls out of favor among Asians, I’ll happily switch back to Oriental. Whatever. Right now, among my Asian friends, Oriental is out of favor.
On your question about Jew, which wasn’t directed to me, but I’ll answer anyway, I’m leaning towards not using it ever. It seems like the usage leans more towards pejorative (Jew store, Jew banker, He’s a Jew) than descriptive (“I’m a Jew”) and I find it increasingly jarring. The only place it makes any sort of sense is “I’m a Jew”, and even that is weird – “I’m Jewish” just seems more right to me, just like “I’m German” seems more normal than “I’m a German” or “I’m Black”, etc.
This indicates that you think “these people” are not actually genuinely offended, just because they didn’t prioritize some things as their first targets.
I don’t know about where you are, but around here we recognise appeal to consequences as a fallacy.
And I can find think-pieces by other Asians on how it is bad. Where does that leave us?
On that side, it’s not so much a fear of making other uncomfortable based on the words we choose to use, but rather, a desire not do do so.
Why would you want to make someone uncomfortable, when you have the ability to not do so?
You are wrong about me. I hang out in some extremely left-edge environments, and I have probably been called out for using inappropriate terms more than most people. I even had an entire party shut up and stare at me awkwardly, once. It was bad enough that my son (who wasn’t at the party) heard about it through the grapevine and teased me about it.
Now, maybe it’s “less of a problem for me” because I’ve gotten used to it, and have learned how to handle the embarrassment.
FWIW, all the people at that party are still friends, and I get regular social invitations from some of the ones most directly affected by that gaffe. So I think I’m in a pretty good place to say that while the fear is obviously real, it is also out of proportion to the actual harm that might befall you.
Why would you want to make someone uncomfortable by ‘correcting’ their use of a possibly-or-possibly-not unPC term? Presumably you think the benefits are worth the costs. Other people may disagree on those costs and benefits.
fwiw, I prefer “Jew” to “Jewish person”. I describe myself as a Jew, and it’s common practice among the Jews that I hang out with to do so as well. Other groups may make different choices.
However: “jew” as an adjective is pretty much always offensive, in my experience. “Jew store” or “Jew banker” are meant to be derogatory, or are tone-deaf. Similar to “lady lawyer”.
I think that’s an excellent article, so thanks for sharing it. I do wonder if I have the same understanding of it as you do. It seems to me that the writer is saying that racism towards Asians remains regardless of the language used to describe the community. In conclusion, I don’t see the article contradicting the one I shared earlier because the decision to not use “Oriental” as a cultural term describing Asians does not appear to have come from the Asian community. Do you disagree?
You could have demanded to know exactly to whom and how what you said was offensive. You may not get those invites, but you’d at least have the satisfaction of knowing that that discomfort you felt wasn’t your fault, but instead, due to the leftists who are out to persecute you.
Fair enough. Are you open to the idea that it is a bigger deal to most other people?
(Also, what did you say that was so bad?!)
I whined about how much my grammar-sensors fire in many cases of the singular “they” in a room full of trans and non-binary people, who are much younger than I am and have no sense of how jarring it feels to someone who grew up when I did.
See, I think that the problem here is that you are ascribing motive here, that the leftists want to hurt you, to make you feel bad. That’s not the case, all it is is asking you to occasionally note that certain words and expressions have a particular connotation that you may not be aware of.
Now that you are aware of them, you don’t have to use them in contexts where they may not be agreeable. Even better and a bit meta, is the realization that there will always be words and phrases that may have a meaning that you don’t intend to convey.
It’s a choice as to how one uses this information. They can use it to make the world a slightly better place, or the can use it to make themselves look like they are being persecuted.
Your freedom to swing your arms ends at my nose. If I point out that you are hitting my nose with your gesticulations, do you take offense, or do you stop hitting me in the nose?
Right, some people like to hit people on the nose, then demand to see the bruise before they accept that they have infringed on them.
Yup, that’s exactly what I think. I recall a thread here on the Dope about whether the term ‘Indian Summer’ was offensive. No evidence was produced that anyone was offended by it, and the one (partially) Native American person to post in the thread said they didn’t find it offensive. Nevertheless, several Dopers vowed to stop using it.
Yes and no. I get that people don’t want to be embarrassed. I don’t think that’s a good reason to object to the general goal of making language more inclusive.
I see her saying that there’s as much impetus from young Asians to drop it as there is from non-Asians.