Re: Maliciousness in Love-Hounds

["Stuart M. Castergine" <scasterg@cd.columbus.oh.us>]

On Tue, 17 Jan 1995, Mikko Barros wrote:

> 
> The word 'newbie' as such is as offensive as: nigger, fascist, spokesman, 
> faggot, etc...it is impolite to give people lables. On the other hand I 
> wouldn't want the terminology to go as far as in the States with all the 
> looong terms such as 'physically impaired'. It's just that 'newbie' is 
> such a unnecessary word...how long does one have to be in this group to 
> not be a 'newbie' or how long has one have had to listen to Kate to not be a 
> 'newbie'? 
> 

Uh, am I part of the evil love-hounds cabal?
Me and my vicious split personality and sarcastic sense of humor cannot 
help but laugh at the above paragraph. I gues I'm just malicious, but 
your choice of "offensive" terms includes some real gems.

Fascist is offensive? Heh, not to a self-avowed fascist it's not. The 
word is not a slur it is a political term with a specific meaning. Use it 
where it fits and it is appropriate.

Spokesman? "Oooh, you, you mean old *spokesman* you! Hee, hee. Oh, how it 
would shame me to be labled a spokesman for anything. Especially 
love-hounds! I assume you mean that this is one of the dreaded "-man" 
words that is presumably offensive to women everywhere because it ignores 
their gender. Thppppt. Are we getting a little thin-skinned here, or what?

Nigger. I shouldn't touch that one. I am going to regret it. It is too
emotionally-charged. It is interesting to note, though, that it is OK for
blacks to use the word nigger, it's just not OK for whites to use it.
Insults are as you choose to take them. We have seen a progressive
degeneration in the United States of every term that is commonly used to
describe blacks into a perceived insult. First nigger, which was the 
commonly used term in Civil War-era U.S., After that negro was the proper 
term, but that fell out of favor. Then colored, then black. Now 
black is falling to "African American" and "People of Color". They have 
finally managed to find terms that annoy me, simply for their 
pretentiousness, the implied separatism in "African American" and the 
patent meaninglessness of "People of Color" (what am I, a person of no 
color? A person of olive-tinted beige color?)

Faggot. Another emotionally-charged one. Again, words are very
situational. Many homosexuals will call themselves Fags. It isn't the word
that is the insult, it is the hate behind it. Changing the word does not 
change the hate.

Newbie. It's a word. It means a new person in a given setting. It can be 
used derisively or descriptively. Language needs descriptive words. It 
needs labels. It is *not* impolite to give people labels. I am labeled in 
a hundred ways: Man, Systems Analyst, white, italian, hairy-faced, 
christian (ooh, there's one that really labels me as scum in some 
circles), left-handed, Kate-Fan, Englebert Humperdink Fan (no, not 
really, but I couldn't resist. Not all labels are true.). 

Without labels to identify things and ease conversation, we are reduced 
to colorless, vague, gutless language that reads like a legal brief and 
and manages to take forever to say nothing of interest. Would I rather be 
described as a sperm-producing component of a bi-gender reproductive 
system who is responsible for the maintenance and management of a variety 
of computer systems? A person of low-melanin accumulation whose ancestors 
lived in southern europe? A person who worships the self-proclaimed son 
of God who lived and died in Isreal approximately two thousand years ago 
(or, from a different perspective, a deluded, self-deceived fool who is 
not enlightened enough to throw off his antiquated cultural superstitions)?
The victim of a moderately rare brain disorder that causes me to use a 
different hand to perform common tasks? 


It's just fucking ridiculous, as is your claim that it is impolite to 
give people labels. Yes, I know you said you did not want things to go as 
far as they have in the US, but that is the inevitable result when you 
start down the path of "Oh, *that* word. I don't like *that* word."

Is there anything objectively better about saying "a person new to this
group" instead of "newbie." No, except certain people of limited vision
choose to find the insult in the word instead of the attitude. Newbie is
many syllables shorter than the alternative, it is understood and it can
be used easily in plain english sentences. So give it a rest, get some
thicker skin and learn the difference between words and the people who say
them. 

Well, I guess that concludes another example of maliciousness from the 
love-hounds cabal (if I may presume to include myself in that illusory 
body).

Ya, no Kate content. I did Kate content last month. It's rough when Kate 
doesn't do anything new for us to talk about.

scasterg@cd.columbus.oh.us == Stuart M. Castergine   |              ---
All young gentle dreams drowning                     | "Mmm, yes."   |/
In life's grief                                      |               |\
Can you hang on to me? --Kate Bush, _Big Stripey Lie_|