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OK to use?

Marssan

15-Jan-2011
4:03:36 PM

This issue has come up again and perhaps it can be settled this time. If here is a strong showing for the No crowd then perhaps it can be the basis for some firm ground rules for posting here. If there is no real consensus then i guess the free for all continues.

So here goes. The question you are answering in this poll is:

Is it OK to use "gay", "fag" or any of their derivatives eg. faggotry to describe something negative / lame / weak or undesirable on the Chocky forum.

rolsen1

15-Jan-2011
5:01:05 PM

I *mostly* don't care what words people use but clearly there are some that do.

When we speak in person we usually know who are audience is, unless it is in a public place and we're speaking loudly. Here online, we don't know who our audience is and we also don't know how they will interpret our posts. I assume that this is one of the reasons why many here choose not to use their real names. Even if there is only a small unseen and unheard audience that is offended by these derogatory words then I think it is appropriate that we don't use them online.

The results of this poll only show us what the people who can be bothered to vote think, the "rules" are set by the site owner and the moderators.

martym

15-Jan-2011
7:55:21 PM

I used to work with troubled teenagers.

The company had barracuda net nanny installed.

When I tried to research drug & alcohol counselling or bisexual gender issues on the net; Barracuda stopped me: "This site contains content on illicit drug taking / sexual or swimwear"

How exactly do you plan to manage your Big Brother system?


Miguel75

15-Jan-2011
8:32:18 PM

I think we have enough rules in this world of ours. There was a topic not too long ago where a Chocky member (moderator?) wrote a fairly strongly worded post about a certain Greens candidates sexuality, among other political things, and the Chocky community took him to task over it (from what I remember, though please correct me if I'm wrong as I can't be bothered searching for the post.) Those who were offended requested something be done by the moderators; those who were not offended defended his freedom to say what he wanted and those who didn't care mocked others.

When I lived in America I travelled to parts of Idaho and Montana that were pretty intense; lots very out-there ideologies ad scariness. While I didn't agree with 99% of what they said I believe they still had a right to say it. I'd personally prefer people to say exactly what they feel/think/believe and exhibit their 'true colours' instead of hiding it so that I can then make an educated decision around how to, or not, interact with them.

While I can guarantee it doesn't bother 99.999999% of the population, blasphemy bothers me. I'm not about to ask each person I meet to stop using the Lords name in vain but I will pray for those who do.... actually I wont because I'm too lazy for that too!

What I suggest is a "Swear/Gay/Blasphemy Jar" where if you mention any of the words deemed offensive to anyone, you will be required to send me 20c which will go into the jar. For the sake of full disclosure, at the end of the year I will tally the amount raised, advise everyone here of the monies raised and proceed to buy my Christmas presents with it. All in favour say 'aye aye captain!'

P.S. ODH has $100 in credit in the Jar to cover him while he gets used to the system...

P.P.S (or is it PSS?) Now we need a list of words that are no bueno!

Sturge

15-Jan-2011
8:59:13 PM

Keep the free-for-all going.
Learning the word "fagistocracy" has been the highlight of my working day.


IdratherbeclimbingM9

15-Jan-2011
10:12:39 PM

On 15/01/2011 Sturge wrote:
>Keep the free-for-all going.
>Learning the word "fagistocracy" has been the highlight of my working
>day.

Yes, context is everything!

martym

15-Jan-2011
10:42:26 PM

"ps." stands for post script
pps therefore I assume means post-post script

One Day Hero

16-Jan-2011
6:13:14 AM

On 15/01/2011 Miguel75 wrote:
>P.S. ODH has $100 in credit in the Jar to cover him while he gets used
>to the system...
>
Cool, that seems like a ton of credit! How many times can I say "Holy fuucking shit, fuuuck me Jesus Christ" before I run out?

I'd like to thank Andrew Dice-Clay for putting that line in a movie........Ford Fairlane, what a terrible film, yet utterly hilarious!


pmonks

16-Jan-2011
9:51:32 AM

On 16/01/2011 One Day Hero wrote:
>Ford Fairlane, what a terrible film, yet utterly hilarious!

One of the best movies of the early 90s, no question.

"You have to shave to wear a skirt like that... ...and I don't mean your legs!"


Andrew_M

16-Jan-2011
10:12:03 AM

On 16/01/2011 pmonks wrote:
>"You have to shave to wear a skirt like that... ...and I don't mean your legs!"

That reminds me of one of my favourite bits of aussie slang, where this would be known as a "Gosford skirt" (Mexicans won't get this)

Ford Fairlaine...great movie BTW

How off topic is this?

Marssan

16-Jan-2011
11:06:03 AM

On 15/01/2011 IdratherbeclimbingM9 wrote:
>On 15/01/2011 Sturge wrote:
>>Keep the free-for-all going.
>>Learning the word "fagistocracy" has been the highlight of my working
>>day.
>
>Yes, context is everything!

It's true, context is everything. As has been posted previously, posting on Chockstone is akin to speaking to a room full of people, most of whom you don't know. I believe the language used here should reflect that and most of the time it does. In this context "fagistocracy" is completely inappropriate.

@Miguel - Surely you're not evoking "Freedom of speech" to justify the bigotry that occasionally surfaces here? Freedom of speech is not freedom to vilify.

Duncan

16-Jan-2011
11:50:02 AM

http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/faggot-to-be-removed-from-dire-straits-song-20110114-19q9m.html

Shit's crazy, man.


Miguel75

16-Jan-2011
12:14:33 PM

On 16/01/2011 Marssan wrote:
>@Miguel - Surely you're not evoking "Freedom of speech" to justify the
>bigotry that occasionally surfaces here? Freedom of speech is not freedom
>to vilify.

I dont support bigotry but I do support the right of people to say things even if I regard it as utter garbage.

Freedom of speech is just that; freedom. People can use it for amazing things, like Dr Martin Luther King Jr or utterly stupid things like Tom Metzger. Maybe I have a defeatist attitude but I dont believe bigotry, racism or hatred will ever be stamped out and I'd much rather know exactly where a person stood so I can act accordingly.


Miguel75

16-Jan-2011
12:49:03 PM

On 16/01/2011 One Day Hero wrote:
>On 15/01/2011 Miguel75 wrote:
>>P.S. ODH has $100 in credit in the Jar to cover him while he gets used
>>to the system...
>>
>Cool, that seems like a ton of credit! How many times can I say "Beep beep beep beep bleepity bleep" before I run out?

Twice;)

One Day Hero

16-Jan-2011
12:59:43 PM

On 16/01/2011 Duncan wrote:
>
>Shit's crazy, man.

Meh, Money for Nothing, neat little lick but over-rated (and over-played) song, IMO

Now if they ever fuch with a good song like Once Upon a Time in the West, or Tunnel of Love.......I'm just gonna go postal!

Wendy

16-Jan-2011
9:58:06 PM

On 15/01/2011 Marssan wrote:
>
>So here goes. The question you are answering in this poll is:
>
>Is it OK to use "gay", "fag" or any of their derivatives eg. faggotry
>to describe something negative / lame / weak or undesirable on the Chocky
>forum.
>

I'm surprised that 50% of people so far think it's ok to use gay as a derogatory term. I'd kind of hoped that most people aside from the teenagers I worked with had moved on. Apparently not. If you aren't trying to be as offensive as possible, just remember where certain terms of abuse came from and whether you want to perpetuate that in your choice of vocab.


Sabu

17-Jan-2011
12:10:04 AM

It seems we have two questions here,
1) is it ok to use such language these days?
2) should it be ALLOWED on this forum?

The answer to 1 is based on ones personal views and is inherently subjective. Regardless of your view, remember that while you might find a certain word offensive, someone else might find a word you use regularly just as offensive.

In terms of moderation (#2) I firmly believe that things should be a "free for all". Either everything is ok or nothing is ok.

Drawing a line in the sand is only going to please some people and then upset the others who find *insert something that isn't moderated* offensive. Attempting to draw such lines is why political correctness has gone to such extreme levels, eg Employers in the UK were encouraged to use the word "thoughtshowers" instead of "brainstorms" as is may be offensive to people with epilepsy.....

Also remember that if someone posts something extremely offensive they are likely to get pulled up for it by everyone else (without moderator assistance) and it only reflects badly on themselves. This is a small community, so people are well aware that their actions online will have implications for the way people view them in the real world.

kieranl

17-Jan-2011
8:47:20 AM

It's just amazing that this has to be asked.
They're being used as terms of abuse, relying on an assumption of underlying homophobia in the audience, so a resounding NO.
I don't usually bother reacting to this one these days, as I have only so much energy to cope with the self-justifying bullsh-t that you get back from people. I restrict my activism to racist/indigenous stuff.


nmonteith

17-Jan-2011
9:28:40 AM

Surely if almost half of the users find it offensive it shouldn't be allowed?

One Day Hero

17-Jan-2011
9:48:23 AM

Half the voters, Neil!

Clearly this is a pretty reasonable request, but once you start down the slippery slope..........what if the god-botherers drum up the same numbers?

There are 75 messages in this topic.