# Just because it was taught in school doesn't make it appropriate to post **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 26, 2021, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966 "2021-05-26T17:11:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/21 "2021-05-26T23:20:19Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > don’t think it was hate speech Misogyny is hate speech. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/22 "2021-05-26T23:20:49Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Can people really not grasp that posting a color mnemonic that’s about _rape_ is just incredibly offensive and inappropriate? It was absolutely offensive and inappropriate - just not in a way that justifies official sanctions, IMO. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/23 "2021-05-26T23:21:05Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > Misogyny is hate speech. Then that post is not misogyny. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/24 "2021-05-26T23:29:04Z")
Wow! I have to agree with the “bad mod-ing!” crowd here. It’s a misogynistic mnemonic. It adds nothing to the topic of the thread, nor is it a response to any side discussions. The post only contains the mnemonic and makes no attempt at making any point what so ever. @engineer_comp_geek, you’re having a “I’m so used to this piece of casual misogyny it seems fine to me” moment here. That it’s very possible the poster of it had the same doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be given a _don’t do that_ note. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/25 "2021-05-26T23:29:45Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I find the privileged “ma free speech”, “we should be able to post facts if they are true facts” attitude just breathtaking. Can people really not grasp that posting a color mnemonic that’s about _rape_ is just incredibly offensive and inappropriate? Let’s not forget the racism. Big ol’ helping of racism in there too. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/26 "2021-05-26T23:32:19Z")
> [@naita](#): > > The post only contains the mnemonic and makes no attempt at making any point what so ever. I agree with you and the OP that the post isn’t desirable because it is offensive and doesn’t even explain itself, like a bare link. But then **ecg** stepped in and explained it. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/27 "2021-05-26T23:32:48Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I don’t think it was hate speech It was hate speech. It was offensive, it was inappropriate. It was absolutely unnecessary to convey a concept. It was thoughtless and careless at best. It was being a jerk, even by SDMB rules. No one needed warning or suspending. It was a teaching moment for a well placed mod note, especially once the hatefulness and offensiveness was brought to the attention of the mods. Doubling down and and continuing to defend it is deeply regrettable and shows how far SD still has to go towards their avowed aspirations. At least change the motto to “some ignorance we are just fine with”. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/28 "2021-05-26T23:38:07Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > I agree with you and the OP that the post isn’t desirable because it is offensive and doesn’t even explain itself, like a bare link. But then **ecg** stepped in and explained it. He explained it _and_ declared it fine. He could have explained it and written “it’s still casual misogyny and shouldn’t be dropped into a thread like that. No warning given.” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/29 "2021-05-26T23:43:09Z")
> [@naita](#): > > He explained it _and_ declared it fine. **Ynnad** did not explain that the mnemonic was widespread among engineers who deal with resistor color coding. Someone who never took electrical engineering (or who never heard of this particular mnemonic) might think this was an ad-hoc misogynist mnemonic, inserted playfully like one might insert an ad-hoc poem. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/31 "2021-05-26T23:46:30Z")
No, edited that out. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/32 "2021-05-26T23:46:34Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Someone who never took electrical engineering might think this was an ad-hoc misogynist mnemonic, inserted playfully like one might insert an ad-hoc poem. I’ve done electrical engineering. I know it used to be a standard mnemonic. I still think it was an unnecessary, misogynistic non-contribution to the thread and should have been noted as such. I also think you are ignoring the actual point in my post to reiterate something I haven’t contested. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/33 "2021-05-26T23:47:37Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I still think it was an unnecessary, misogynistic non-contribution to the thread The explanation makes it a contribution, in my opinion. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/34 "2021-05-26T23:51:43Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > The explanation makes it a contribution, in my opinion A hateful, dehumanizing, misogynistic contribution. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/35 "2021-05-26T23:56:12Z")
Another poster came along with a different mnemonic with ‘roses’ and ‘violets’. That was a useful contribution and a net gain in the conversation-mnemonics can be very useful as long as the utility doesn’t come at another’s expense. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/36 "2021-05-26T23:56:15Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Let’s not forget the racism. Big ol’ helping of racism in there too. Where? ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/37 "2021-05-26T23:58:26Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Where It was there in another poster’s reiteration of it a few posts later. Not going to dignify either the racism or the misogyny by repeating it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/38 "2021-05-26T23:59:27Z")
I keep reading it as “Bad black boys ravish…” @chela said it better than I did: > [@chela](#): > > If I were typing it out it would have made me cringe at the imagery of bad/black boys ravishing young girls aka children, but oh that slut violet gives it out freely. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/39 "2021-05-27T00:48:35Z")
FWIW I agree w so many; the posting of the “traditional” mnemonic was inappropriate and should have been mod-noted as inappropriate. Those of us who are old have the burden that a lot of stuff that was laid down in our minds in Ye OIden Dayes is not kosher today. It may be familiar, and it may be comfortable in some internal mental sense like old well-worn shoes are comfortable. But that internal comfort needs to have a wall around it; it isn’t _externally_ comfortable and really can’t be viewed that way when it leave our keyboard and joins the public history of SDMB. In that regard the 20-somethings have it easy; not much has changed for them. Yet. IMO **ecg** goofed. Mods are humans too and deserve our empathy when they goof. Easy enough for TPTB to fix even now; just don’t double down on the mistake. That’s what converts a mistake into a crime. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/40 "2021-05-27T03:08:58Z")
Can we please not pretend that the mnemonic was good clean fun back in the day? It was horribly offensive, which is what made it memorable. It also demonstrates just how male-only everything electrical was: throwing around words that couldn’t have been used in “mixed company” was part of the thrill. I mean look at it: it gets it’s impact from two things: a joke about rape and a joke about a slut. It’s a stupid sort of joke, a sort of pre-Boomer Humor. It’s the sort of thing that’s funny to a group of dudes in a highly gender segregated society, that sees all girls as alien creatures, divided into “good girls” and “bad girls” and the trick is to work your way though as many “bad girls” as you can until you settle down with a “good girl”. But you aren’t ever friends with any of them, never free and easy. Girls in the kitchen, men in the living room making these jokes and saying “hyuck hyuck hyuck”. It was never cute or wholesome. It’s the sort of thing that you’d deck a guy for repeating in front of your sister because how dare he say something like that to her. Not appropriate. Fine to post about it, talk about it, even quote it–but not offer it as a _bon mot_. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966/41 "2021-05-27T03:44:43Z")
It plays on the racist trope of Black men raping (or even just lusting after) white women. A trope that got many Black men lynched. I’m stunned this was allowed to be posted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-because-it-was-taught-in-school-doesnt-make-it-appropriate-to-post/942966.md?page=3)