If it applies to both genders and to the whole human race, it won't offend. If it applies only to a sector, it denotes the typical hatred, ignorance, xenophobia, misogyny, etc. Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
I'm serious about this ;-)
Cultural collision, and how to deal with it, is an increasingly obsessive element of our W*stern society. And little wonder, after hundreds of years of distortion. But cultural collision imo will not be solved by lexicons, it will be solved by love.
Your cat knows this ;-)
more animals You can't be me, I'm taken
Besides I do not see how the use of 'gutter'-language (don't know if this is the right term) adds to the quality of the discussion here. I do not mind a crass word once in a while, but the use of this kind of language has increased lately, especially in the OT. I do not know if there is a connection, but it also seems that there are less and less women participating in discussions here on ET - this kind of language sure does not sound very inviting, if we want more women to participate.
you are the media you consume.
When I was 15 or 16, an English teacher had my class come up with a list of slurs for men and women. She broke us up into groups of four and gave use 10 minutes. Everyone's list had at least five times as many slurs for women as for men.
For the past 30 years "stay on message' has been the mantra. This ignores the fact that the message is always in flux. Because culture changes -it has to change.
I don't knew that the answer is - except my instinctive answer is that say whatever you want and take the consequences. That is what the erosion of cultural sensitivities is about. You can't be me, I'm taken
