Toni Morrison is at a cocktail party at Princeton with her colleagues, English professors and other visiting novelists. She uses the word "niggardly" in conversation. Is this okay because:
It would certainly give me pause, but I'll go with E.
E) She's a novelist and black and it is presumed she both knows how to use the word and that she's sensitive to how it might be misconstrued.
Given that she is a member of the group which might be directly offended, her race and the possibility of reclamation of the word is a factor.
Would I use that word in front of Toni Fucking Morrison?
Hell to the naw.
Back to catch up on the WHOLE THREAD that I skipped to post that...
Little does she know what awaits...
Oh, wait, she does! We're Buffistas!
Please God, make my mother stop talking to me about her trip tot the gynecologist. Please.
Because when I hear someone use "gay" to describe anything other than a gay person
Even rumba sleeves?
Would I use that word in front of Toni Fucking Morrison?
Me neither. But I'm also pretty sure she'd argue that the word didn't need to be reclaimed. That it's all cromulent and shit.
Heh. When you do an image search on "pusillaminous" the first thing that comes up is the Cowardly Lion.
Btw, smonster, thanks for being so reasonable and gracious during the discussion.
Because when I hear someone use "gay" to describe anything other than a gay person
Even rumba sleeves?
You know, it would probably depend on who I was talking to. If it were someone I knew well, it might not ping me. But if it were someone I didn't know well? I'd probably have an internal bad reaction to it. DW and I had a discussion with her cousin and his wife, both of whom we love dearly, about their use of the word "gay" as a derogatory term. We were shocked that they used it and they were shocked that we would be offended (duh!). But now they know and we are still in "couple love" with them.
I've observed that the term "political correctness" is often used by people who are using it as a synonym for "forcing me to not say offensive shit."
This nails it. Teppy comes through again!
And, in addition to rumba sleeves, never underestimate the power of the maracas.
Btw, smonster, thanks for being so reasonable and gracious during the discussion.
Back atcha. So much more nuanced a discussion than I could have almost anywhere else. Love me some Buffistas.
Anyone see the recent South Park where the boys have to have the dictionary changed so that the new definition of "Fags" is "Guys who ride Harley Davidsons and make a bunch of noise"?
