It is getting to be really annoying to read Pit threads (and others) that get totally hijacked because of self proclaimed PC police that need to tell the world why everything that the OP says is offensive to other people. I am sorry, but in a Pit Thread people are there to rant and rave. For example, (and this is only an example of many I could have chosen) if I call someone “fat” when describing them, it does not make me a sizeist. It does not make me a bigot, or a terrible human being. It is simply an adjective with which to describe them. If I wanted to describe Marlon Brando physically, the man is fat. Ryan Styles from Drew Carey? He is a toothpick. They are ADJECTIVES, not nuggets of hatred.
This thread is a perfect example of what I am talking about, and the following quote there-in sums up how I feel nicely.
I guess what I am trying to say is that some people are overly sensitive, and perhaps even need to grow up a little bit, develop a thicker skin. Try to realize that the entire world is not here to bash you. If some people poured as much energy into improving themselves as they did into their self righteousness and self-loathing, then perhaps this place might be a tad better off, and they themselves might be as well.
Flame away. I know it will come after this post, but I had to get it out. I am sensitive to many issues, and see everyone as a fellow human being first and foremost, all equals. But when you spew your self righteousness at me, it gets harder and harder for me not to spew back.
Oh, Christ, there’s an original insight. When the fuck are people going to get it through their improbably thick skulls that being tolerant doesn’t require you to smile and nod when some asswit is insulting you. Being tolerant means treating people the way they want to be treated. And if someone wants to act like an asshole, then it is perfectly okay to treat them like an asshole.
I’m going to have to side with the Canuck on this one. The word “fat” seems to be offlimits as a derogatory remark around here. The relenacy to the rest of the rant is beside the point. You would not here the same complaint if the linked OP had said “that goat-fucking bitch hit my car”. No one would have chided the OP for linking an alternative lifestyle with driving skills.
But see, the OP in the linked thread took great pains to describe how “hugely obese, skanky, horrifically ugly” the woman was who bumped his car. It totally and completely sucks that he was a victim of a hit-and-run, and that woman was a bitch for doing it. But what does her being obese have anything to do with it?
I didn’t see most of the people challenging the OP in the linked post as “self-righteous”–I think they genuinely wanted to know why the OP needed to go on about how fat and disgusting this woman was.
I think the key word here is the last one: you. If someone uses a word to describe someone else in an OP, then they can’t exactly be deliberately insulting you, can they?
Using the word “fat” as an adjective and associating the word “fat” with everything evil and in fact the very reason the person in the car crash thread was evil in the first place are two entirely separate things.
Saying something like “hey! that fat guy just ran into my car”. Well, you were just describing the man’s appearance.
But going on and on about how the fat must have been the reason he was a bad person, and how since fat people “can control” whether or not they are fat, that they shouldn’t expect to be treated with basic dignity (after all, black people are born that way etc etc) is what is wrong.
Along with a lot of other people (judging from the posts seen on all the "anti-fat bashing meltdowns) the majority of them, I think that some people just aren’t seeing the distinction. And they NEED to.
“Hugely obese, skanky, horiffically ugly” is an insult. He’s not allowed to insult the woman who hit and run? If he insulted her by calling her a “goat fucker” and used that theme throughout the OP, no one would have said a peep, although sexual activities with farm animals would be equally irrelevant. However, since he had the gall to use her weight as an insult, all Hell broke loose.
He also used the term moronic. Should we call him out on his insensitivity to the developmentally disabled?
Then you get 2 assholes for the price of one, each feeling totally justified.
I’m reposting what I said in one of the fat-bashing train wrecks:
Now if tolerance and understanding is our goal, is acting like an asshole the way to achieve that? Is that a good approach to changing someone’s mind?
I don’t think so. I mean, sure, it feels good, but I think it inspires the original asshole to cling to views and label the secondary assholes as , well, assholes.
Come on, A Monkey with a Gun. Surely you can see the difference between calling someone a “goat fucker” multiple times (which, btw, we would have no way of knowing if it was true or not, unless she was wearing a t-shirt or something) and referring to the way a person looks, multiple times.
Yes, he called her “moronic.” He also didn’t go on about it the way he did about her weight. The fact that she was obese was, IMO, central to his rant. People called him on it because her physical appearance doesn’t have anything to do with her actions.
He had no way of knowing if she was a “goat fucker,” so most people would have taken that to be a random insult. He did, however, know that she was obese, and talked about how disgusting she was because of it. To me, the distinction is pretty clear. Is it still not to you?
Okay, okay–sorry. I posted the last one before I saw your previous request. I’ll bow out now; I’m not sure I’m succeeding at changing anyone’s mind anyway.
The Wrong Girl, are you telling me it is never OK to use the terms “fat” or “ugly” as insults? Can ANY insults be based on physical appearance, or must they all be based on the character of the intended victim? If so, I’d have to say that gives you a rather limited repetoire.
Additionally, the insult’s relevancy to the topic is, in a word, irrelevant. Insults are the icing on the rant’s pastry. They are there for added effect.
Depends on the OP, I guess. I wasn’t commenting on the linked thread, merely on the tired “for someone so worried about tolerance, you’re awfully intolerant” canard. Tends to pop up mostly in threads relating to homophobia. Joe Cool was fond of it. “If I have to tolerate your homosexuality, you have to tolerate my homophobia. So stop calling me an asshole, you faggot.” That sort of thing. It’s a major peeve of mine.
In fairness, I should mention that I don’t think Joe ever actually called anyone a “faggot.” Although I often got the feeling that he wanted to.