Themes or worse (like pervasive abuse) = bad. Expression = good.
"Dude, that guy is such a homo." No big deal.
"Homo" (or some variation thereof) being as common in your posts as "the", "and", "is", etc., and more specifically used in a derogatory rather than joking manner. Something worth addressing.
There is a divide between how people talk in person, and how people talk from behind a computer screen. We (all of us) should want to at least partially bridge that divide.
I am the last person in the world to be threatened by words. I also make a point to consider the value of someone's meaning and tone, not just the words themselves.
Let's drop "homo" as a reference, and call it "X". "X" can be anything. "Fag", "Nigger", "Kike", "Cunt", as examples at the harsher end, 'tweener' words like "homo", "bitch", "slope", "peckerwood" etc. all being words that are more often used in humor, even innocuously, particularly between peers -- but can still be abused in the worse way.
I'm not devaluing X, I'm not assigning it any morality or bearing -- I'm just focusing on the combination of letters that form a word. Two issues here. The word, and the meaning. Themes and expression.
BP is and will always be a place where you can say anything you really want to say. Thing is, as a community, and individually, we will (and have to) react a certain way.
If a scUM fan comes here and starts trashing our program, we're going to react because that's unacceptable to us. It's really no different with 'X'.
When people perceive the use of 'X' to be offensive, then they're as free to say something as the person or people who used 'X' were to express themselves. Sometimes the complaining party/parties will be representative of community standards, sometimes they'll be over-reacting.
Either way, while we have mods, admins, rules, etc., we still do, we always will, society in general, helps police itself.
We are MORE concerned about being over-reactionary than we are not addressing these issues at all. Which is to say that, like anything else, there's a balance to be met.
Say whatever the fuck you want to say. See that? It fits the flow and purpose of the sentence. It drives the point home.
WORDS. All of them serve a purpose. Even the ones we ourselves have decided are taboo. MEANINGS/INTENT. Often more important than the words themselves, because the words are just the tools used to convey those. This is where X can, and often does, take on such a horrible state that it can affect people to their very core. This is where X is a cancer.
BP is unconcerned about words as an institution, and concerned about meanings/intent. We even have to be cognizant of reasonably acquired perceptions of meanings/intent.
A linguist will tell you that the form of a sentence doesn't matter as long as you get your point across.
An artist will tell you that the form of a sentence is or can be even more important than getting the point across, that sometimes elusive meanings can provoke stronger reactions and feelings.
Both are true.
Say whatever you want. Be prepared to answer for what you say.
Appreciate that while you have to consider your own words, the community that you are part of has to consider its collective voice.
There is nothing about BP that is politically correct, in the traditionally over-reactive, over-sensitive, watered-down sense. However, we want everyone to feel welcomed (right up until some will make it clear they don't belong here), and no one to feel maliciously abused.
When we talk about these things, it's not because we necessarily believe something to be malicious, it's because there's no clear line in the sand with this stuff -- so if the boundary is nebulous, then our understanding of where it might be has to be liquid.
Finally, just like we don't want people to over-react to 'X' (any scale of severity of X), we don't want people over-reacting to discussions or consideration about not abusing X, and not fostering a reasonable perception that BP is about X.
So the theme here? Less over-reaction to everything is good.
"Dude, that guy is such a homo." No big deal.
"Homo" (or some variation thereof) being as common in your posts as "the", "and", "is", etc., and more specifically used in a derogatory rather than joking manner. Something worth addressing.
There is a divide between how people talk in person, and how people talk from behind a computer screen. We (all of us) should want to at least partially bridge that divide.
I am the last person in the world to be threatened by words. I also make a point to consider the value of someone's meaning and tone, not just the words themselves.
Let's drop "homo" as a reference, and call it "X". "X" can be anything. "Fag", "Nigger", "Kike", "Cunt", as examples at the harsher end, 'tweener' words like "homo", "bitch", "slope", "peckerwood" etc. all being words that are more often used in humor, even innocuously, particularly between peers -- but can still be abused in the worse way.
I'm not devaluing X, I'm not assigning it any morality or bearing -- I'm just focusing on the combination of letters that form a word. Two issues here. The word, and the meaning. Themes and expression.
BP is and will always be a place where you can say anything you really want to say. Thing is, as a community, and individually, we will (and have to) react a certain way.
If a scUM fan comes here and starts trashing our program, we're going to react because that's unacceptable to us. It's really no different with 'X'.
When people perceive the use of 'X' to be offensive, then they're as free to say something as the person or people who used 'X' were to express themselves. Sometimes the complaining party/parties will be representative of community standards, sometimes they'll be over-reacting.
Either way, while we have mods, admins, rules, etc., we still do, we always will, society in general, helps police itself.
We are MORE concerned about being over-reactionary than we are not addressing these issues at all. Which is to say that, like anything else, there's a balance to be met.
Say whatever the fuck you want to say. See that? It fits the flow and purpose of the sentence. It drives the point home.
WORDS. All of them serve a purpose. Even the ones we ourselves have decided are taboo. MEANINGS/INTENT. Often more important than the words themselves, because the words are just the tools used to convey those. This is where X can, and often does, take on such a horrible state that it can affect people to their very core. This is where X is a cancer.
BP is unconcerned about words as an institution, and concerned about meanings/intent. We even have to be cognizant of reasonably acquired perceptions of meanings/intent.
A linguist will tell you that the form of a sentence doesn't matter as long as you get your point across.
An artist will tell you that the form of a sentence is or can be even more important than getting the point across, that sometimes elusive meanings can provoke stronger reactions and feelings.
Both are true.
Say whatever you want. Be prepared to answer for what you say.
Appreciate that while you have to consider your own words, the community that you are part of has to consider its collective voice.
There is nothing about BP that is politically correct, in the traditionally over-reactive, over-sensitive, watered-down sense. However, we want everyone to feel welcomed (right up until some will make it clear they don't belong here), and no one to feel maliciously abused.
When we talk about these things, it's not because we necessarily believe something to be malicious, it's because there's no clear line in the sand with this stuff -- so if the boundary is nebulous, then our understanding of where it might be has to be liquid.
Finally, just like we don't want people to over-react to 'X' (any scale of severity of X), we don't want people over-reacting to discussions or consideration about not abusing X, and not fostering a reasonable perception that BP is about X.
So the theme here? Less over-reaction to everything is good.
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