Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady Dynamitez
Someone mentioned how "people are just offended easily geez!!!1" but that's just not it. It isn't just us being easily offended, it isn't just us being special snowflakes, but these words actually have negative consequences and a whole history behind them and actual effects on women and how women are generally viewed.
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No need to shade, I'm right here =P. Anyways, I understand if people are touchy about it. If it negatively has an impact on you and it disturbs you, I will respect that. I'm speaking for my personal experience, my group, my upbringing where using those words were more or less... the norm. Do I mean it as an insult? Absolutely not but it's just how I was brought up with the words. I mean heck, in elementary school I was acknowledge by close friends as "this is my bitch". If I do something outlandish I was called an "attention whore". Am I offended? No. Should I be offended? Probably. But I'm not. Maybe after all these years I've just become desensitized to those words.
I agree, there is history behind those words, but you can’t hold a word responsible for its etymological history. Words drift in the semantic space. In a real-world conversation, the meaning and the context in which it is used is what matters. I
know my audience, I
know who I'm addressing. And I
know my intentions. It's become a part of my vocabulary as well as many others I know which is why I understand where Delirum and Andrenekoi are coming from.
Phrases like "attention whore" and the likes is just another common euphemism in todays culture. It is an established phrase with a commonly agreed upon meaning (not always as this thread clearly shows). However, I'm also noticing those who ARE offended though tend to be people who are
not from the Western hemisphere which is why I feel like it’s (maybe?) just a cultural thing as well because I can confidently say I hear these words/phrases being passed around on the daily from conversations on the train to my own workplace amongst my fellow employees without any repercussions. At the end of the day, I don't get to choose what other people do/do not find offensive. I can only learn how they react and then choose to alter my own speech/behaviour.