From: Lee Daniel Crocker (lee@piclab.com)
Date: Tue Jun 13 2000 - 16:56:53 MDT
> He didn't say 'les beans', or 'let's be in'. He said (dumb, ugly,
> treehugging) Lesbian.
> That was a purely uncivilized wisecrack, a disgusting sentiment
> and he needed his ass kicked.
In retrospect, I realize that some elements of our society /do/
believe that there is an association among those groups, and that
the remark therefore taps into that cultural subconscious belief
and may reinforce it (much the same as the description of a "lazy
black man" might reinforce that stereotype, even if one happens to
be innocently talking about a specific individual who happens to
be lazy and black). If I made a mistake here, it is the fact that
I did not consider that cultural stereotype before I made the remark
because I don't happen to hold it. I normally take more care with
my language even when being intentionally boorish, and I was sloppy
here, but I honestly did not mean to reinforce any stereotypes
about lesbians, tree-huggers, or anyone else; only to postulate
the existence of some who fit all those descriptions for rhetorical
effect (that obviously failed).
I do hold myself to a higher standard of expression, and while
that standard does not include "politeness", it does include
precision, and knowing about the connotations of the words I use
and the effects they might have. I was sloppy here, and I ended
up making implications I had no intention of making. For that,
I may be justly chastised, and I apologize. After all, if I am
to spread my belief that that being unclear or deceptive are far
greater sins than being rude, I must hold myself to that.
-- Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lee/> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past, are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
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