May 11
DRF commented on The Tree of Liberty Must Be Refreshed From Time to Time With the Blood of Tyrants.
May 11
DRF commented on SL Letter of the Day: I'm Out.
@129 Lynx-- It's because "dick" means "sexual organ" but "cunt" means "worthless sexual organ." Calling someone "cunt" means "your only use is to service other people sexually." (Using the n-rhymes-with-trigger or f-rhymes-with-maggot is a little different. It means "you're bad because you're black/gay.")
Think about it. When you call someone a "dick," you mean that he or she is selfish, with a slight ha-ha-of-course-dicks-want-sex-all-the-time. It's had a boys-will-be-boys feel to it for decades. "Cunt" is loaded with a lot more negativity. To call a person a cunt is to say "there is nothing to you except your vagina" with an undertone of "come over here and use it!"
Now, this is more what this word meant in 1960 and 1980 than what it means today, but these undertones have not faded entirely. Language changes over time (and place, as many Brit-visitors have pointed out) and "cunt" is slowly becoming a less intense swear word, but right now it still has a lot of sexist and coercive connotation to it. Can it be reclaimed? Sure. I heard its etymology even involves a Roman goddess of babies and childbirth. But right now, it's still degrading.
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Think about it. When you call someone a "dick," you mean that he or she is selfish, with a slight ha-ha-of-course-dicks-want-sex-all-the-time. It's had a boys-will-be-boys feel to it for decades. "Cunt" is loaded with a lot more negativity. To call a person a cunt is to say "there is nothing to you except your vagina" with an undertone of "come over here and use it!"
Now, this is more what this word meant in 1960 and 1980 than what it means today, but these undertones have not faded entirely. Language changes over time (and place, as many Brit-visitors have pointed out) and "cunt" is slowly becoming a less intense swear word, but right now it still has a lot of sexist and coercive connotation to it. Can it be reclaimed? Sure. I heard its etymology even involves a Roman goddess of babies and childbirth. But right now, it's still degrading.
May 11
DRF commented on SL Letter of the Day: I'm Out.
While the mechanics of the joke that the letter-writer constructed are quite good, it is not for a male person to say when "cunt" becomes funny, just as it is not for a white person to say when the n-word becomes funny. The sexism and coercive domination in that word was never directed at him or anyone like him (YES, even when men call each other "cunt" they are making fun of women and not men).
The issue here is whether the discrimination and negativity associated with the c-word have as yet diluted to the point where calling someone a cunt no longer means calling her a worthless vagina fit for servicing male users and nothing else. Only then could the joke be funny.
So I'd say it's not nearly as bad as the n-word, but we're not there yet, and this man's companions were right to be offended and he was right to apologize (assuming he did apologize rather than just "feel apologetic"). A few more seasons of Game of Thrones should dilute it a bit more, though.
The issue here is whether the discrimination and negativity associated with the c-word have as yet diluted to the point where calling someone a cunt no longer means calling her a worthless vagina fit for servicing male users and nothing else. Only then could the joke be funny.
So I'd say it's not nearly as bad as the n-word, but we're not there yet, and this man's companions were right to be offended and he was right to apologize (assuming he did apologize rather than just "feel apologetic"). A few more seasons of Game of Thrones should dilute it a bit more, though.
May 10
DRF commented on Your Dog Sucks.
@154 "'Lady and the Tramp' was not a documentary."
And Bonefish wins this thread.
@162 I agree that calling animal control is problematic. If someone thinks that a dog is going to bite them right then then calling and waiting for someone else to show up isn't practical.
And Bonefish wins this thread.
@162 I agree that calling animal control is problematic. If someone thinks that a dog is going to bite them right then then calling and waiting for someone else to show up isn't practical.
May 10
DRF commented on Mormons Drop Active Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage.
That's right. Nobody has to endorse or approve of other people's personal decisions, but when it comes to something with as much secular importance as marriage, not standing in the way is a good thing. To paraphrase a celebrated activist, sometimes all it takes for good to triumph is for those opposed to it to do nothing.
However, if they think that allowing gays to be married at city hall will change things for people who get married in Mormon or Catholic churches, they are right. However, the effects of divorce and cohabitation are much more profound. The fact that gay relationships get so much more attention than straight ones is proof that this is more homophobia than concern for the role of marriage in society.
However, if they think that allowing gays to be married at city hall will change things for people who get married in Mormon or Catholic churches, they are right. However, the effects of divorce and cohabitation are much more profound. The fact that gay relationships get so much more attention than straight ones is proof that this is more homophobia than concern for the role of marriage in society.
May 10
DRF commented on Your Dog Sucks.
@90 "There was a dog in line at the grocery the other day and I told my kid not to touch it, because if it was in a grocery store it was obviously a service dog and working. Owners went VERY quiet."
Oh that is WONDERFUL. It acknowledges that not everyone who brings their dog somewhere is doing something wrong, the many good things that highly trained dogs do and mercilessly guilts the irresponsible owner! Do you mind if I steal that?
Hm. The only downside seems to be that you might mislead your children about what a service dog looks like.
@91 Little yippy dogs were popular as lapdogs in the medieval period because—as people believed—the higher body temperature of the dog caused many of the fleas and some of the body lice to jump off the human and onto the dog. They do have a purpose: They're flea magnets.
Oh that is WONDERFUL. It acknowledges that not everyone who brings their dog somewhere is doing something wrong, the many good things that highly trained dogs do and mercilessly guilts the irresponsible owner! Do you mind if I steal that?
Hm. The only downside seems to be that you might mislead your children about what a service dog looks like.
@91 Little yippy dogs were popular as lapdogs in the medieval period because—as people believed—the higher body temperature of the dog caused many of the fleas and some of the body lice to jump off the human and onto the dog. They do have a purpose: They're flea magnets.
May 10
DRF commented on Your Dog Sucks.
@26 "The dog wasn't attacking, it was being annoying. Nobody was in danger"
Unless the dog was acting weird because it had rabies or some other contagious illness. If the dog's owner couldn't be bothered to train, observe or feed his or her animal properly, then 1. he or she shouldn't have gotten such a high-maintenance pet and 2. has no grounds to complain about what other people do to make it go away. Of COURSE hitting an aggressive dog is an option.
@35 Grabbing the collar only works if the grabber has enough experience with dogs to know how to grab the dog safely. Someone who's allergic or who didn't grow up with dogs would not know this. Also, the rabies concern.
Unless the dog was acting weird because it had rabies or some other contagious illness. If the dog's owner couldn't be bothered to train, observe or feed his or her animal properly, then 1. he or she shouldn't have gotten such a high-maintenance pet and 2. has no grounds to complain about what other people do to make it go away. Of COURSE hitting an aggressive dog is an option.
@35 Grabbing the collar only works if the grabber has enough experience with dogs to know how to grab the dog safely. Someone who's allergic or who didn't grow up with dogs would not know this. Also, the rabies concern.
May 9
DRF commented on Marriage Equality Scores a Big Win in Minnesota.
@9 Oh, yeah. And we should have clowns.
May 9
DRF commented on Marriage Equality Scores a Big Win in Minnesota.
Yep! Let's hear it for equal rights under the laws of man. Health insurance, hospital visitation, citizenship, inheritance and the psychological OHyeah of being able to call one's long-term partner a SPOUSE without people sneering about who's just pretending.
May 9
DRF commented on Your Dog Sucks.
Oh, and I hike with a BIG BIG HIKING STICK! HA HA HA HA HAHA! I've never had to hit a dog with it—ever—but I totally would if it came to that. And the sweet whining that the lazy, stupid dog owner who was breaking park leash rules would do? Oh, I'd revel in it. I would bottle it and serve it to guests with scones and sugar cubes.
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It worked. The MPAA started giving movies ratings like G and PG and R, and the Feds found other things to do. The organization exists to this day.
So GUN OWNERS. Maybe you should form an organization based on guns, a nationwide organization of rifle enthusiasts, perhaps, and POLICE YOURSELVES. If you don't want the government in your beeswax, stop doing STUPID CRUD like leaving LOADED WEAPONS where CHILDREN can get them.