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Bump.
I have a small concern regarding myself right now, and figured this was the best place to raise it and ask for input. Over in the Ann Coulter thread I made the following comment:
God, she's such a bitch. Who the fuck buys her psychotic books, anyway? I mean seriously, I can generally wrap my head around conservative thinking and force myself to understand how they see the world. But Ann Coulter is simply bat shit insane, there's no two-ways about it. She's crazier than Alan Keyes, for fuck's sake!
To which, in part at least, Mordant replied:
Look, I know it's Coulter, but can we have a bit less of the 'bitch' and the mental-health-issues-as-slurs? Cheers.
The more I think about it, the more I feel she was justified with this statement, and I apologized immediately upon seeing it (though, I’m not personally sure I apologized… I don’t know, ‘adamantly’ enough). However, I’m at a loss for how to react “better” to this type of thing. The use of the term “bitch”, for example, was in no way meant as an affront against women, but as a statement of Ann Coulter’s character.
“Bitch” was a way of referring to her as a manipulative, lying bigot whose attitudes towards social injustice are practically medieval, among other things. Similarly, “psychotic”, “crazy”, and “bat shit insane” were in no way an attack upon mental illness, but terms expressing my shock and disbelief of her attitudes and a total inability to comprehend how she thinks.
I suppose what I’m really asking is something like “How can I, as an individual, better express myself without misrepresenting my thoughts as bigoted?” In this example, for instance, I can’t think of a better word for Ms. Coulter than simply “bitch”. It really sums up my feelings for her rather well. But at the same time I realize the inherent sexism within the term. And although I may refer to men as “bitchy”, on occasion, that does not in any way undermine the sexism within the word. If anything, it enhances it, by comparing them to the traditional understood concept of a “bitchy women”.
Clearly, the “easiest” solution is to simply watch myself and make sure I refrain from using language such as this that could be perceived as bigoted in anyway. But I’m worried that this is simply using a band-aid where stitches are needed. Does using a word like “bitch” so easily suggest an inner sexist attitude? I’m kind of afraid it does. If so, how can I improve this semi-conscious attitude?
Help me, Barbelith, you’re my only hope… |
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