OP/ED........A huge issue I have with my fellow liberals as well intended as they are in fighting bigotry, is not knowing the difference between getting offended and bullying. I have had this conversation over the years with many people, both left and right. Now Serena Williams claimed that she was being bullied because of some stupid comment being called "Williams brothers"?

Bulling isn't merely getting offended. Bullying is when you are in an environment you cannot leave, like school or a workplace you have to be at when people repeatedly harass you. Bullying is when you are a minority anywhere in the world and that majority uses laws and violence to oppress you. In the west merely being picked on or even offensive comments, when you have the power and are rich enough to say "Stop being a dick" means you can fight back, and when you have that kind of power, you are NOT being bullied.

Blacks being lynched and being forced to use separate schools were bullied. Christians in Iran being murdered by Isis are being bullied. A Pakistani woman may be put to death by the state for basphemy, THAT is being bullied. In the west especially with fame getting picked on and people saying mean things or offensive things comes with that fame, and when you have that big mike to respond you are as powerful as the person saying it which means you are NOT being bullied.

I am an atheist, I get offended by believers calling me immoral and equating me to Stalin all the time and I am not even famous. But even with that I know the difference between getting offended and being bullied. I know atheists who have lost their jobs, been kicked out of their apartments and had their personal property destroyed. But in a mutual setting where I can leave a conversation, like facebook or twitter or block someone, I am not being bullied.

Serena, I was bullied as a kid, I know what bullying is, but I am an adult now and know that people are going to offend me sometimes and say mean things about me sometimes. In a free society, sometimes you are going to hear others say offensive things. Just say "That offended me", but when you have the power you do, and don't claim you don't, you are NOT being bullied.

Yeah, and how is having one's sexuality impuned "racist"?

She really pissed me off with that crap. I grew up on a street full of boys who were bigger than me and stronger than me. I was sensitive and cried and was a dork who didn't fit in. One day I went to the basketball court and asked if I could join, they called me names and told me to fuck off and leave, I crossed the field and noticed my button on my jean jacket sleeve was unbuttoned, lifted my arm up to button it and one of the dicks thought I had flipped him off, next thing I know I have 6 bullies chasing me back to my house.

I made it home frightened and winded. 2 hours later I get a phone call from a guy down the street who was not there who I thought was my "friend" asked me if I wanted to come over. Not sure the coast was clear but at the same time thinking they had given up, I took the back ally to his house. Just a block and a half down the ambushed me, surrounded me 6 on 1, knowing I was not a fighter, and one of those pricks punched me in the face and broke my nose. The got that "friend" to call me and flush me out of my house so they could ambush me.

THAT is bullying. But here when we pick on religion or cuss people out, they are not being forced to be here. They can ask individuals to not do something, or they can go to other websites and bitch about what dicks we are here.

I take this shit personally because it really demeans my suffering and real suffering worldwide where others actions can get you arrested or murdered. Having someone pick on you when you have the option to say "fuck you" back, or leave, is not being bullied.

I remember a kid at school who had weird extremities e.g clubbed foot, he got bullied

How can people be so cruel?!!

(October 20, 2014 at 12:41 pm)DramaQueen Wrote: I remember a kid at school who had weird extremities e.g clubbed foot, he got bullied

How can people be so cruel?!!

It depends on the individual too. Some people even with deformities or scars can be just as tough as others who don't have them. It is bullying when you don't have a way out or support from others.

I was a perfectly healthy kid myself, but my issue was I was insecure and had no friends on my street. It was not until high school that I had my first friend.

The way I did it, was to fight back. Lousy 33% win ratio. Probably because I picked on the big guys. Or was it the other way around?

I l am not saying default to getting physical, this is more for adults which she is. This is more for famous people which she is. Kids in school are different, even when not at school social media can be bullying because those kids have to go back to that school after nasty things are said on line.

I am talking about anyone, politician, musician, business person, actor, sports star. Once you get up that high you have to expect others to talk about you and offend you. Certainly you can respond back but to call it bullying when you have that much power is absurd.