PSA: Hate Speech

[Shell B]

I’m going to have to return for one post only, one final time, to say that this is the stupidest thing I can imagine. If I hadn’t already decided to leave forever, this would have prompted me to anyway. Finally we have blaspheme laws for atheists. Screw context or real consequences, we must protect people from seeing certain arrangements of letters.

Well, it’s very fitting for the wave of censorship the establishment is bringing down worldwide. Everything is going to shit, and it’s really sad to see this place I once loved embracing that.

Buh-bye.

[LadyForCamus]

It literally changes nothing, this shit was already against the rules anyway. I think it will work out just fine. And if we lose the people who just can’t bear to refrain from using the n word, my heart won’t be broken.

For the most part I agree. This is just the next drama of the day/week/month at AF.

The thing is, this is more than, has not been limited to, the N word, or the C word, or the ............ word. 

Apologies for being the B word. (I'll untuck now)

It’s only drama because a segment of the membership is turning it into that.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Perhaps we should just ban words with letters in them.

[LadyForCamus]

You understand that, to a non native speaker, the boundary between a slur and a merely offensive word is very fuzzy, right?

According to the rule, "retard" would not be covered as a slur... Does not target race, gender, sex nor sexual orientation... but it has triggered Joods in the past.

And what are gender or sex related slurs?
I really can't think of a word for these, but maybe it's because it still early and I'm sleep waking.

The asterisks are stupid, imo.

Nobody cares what triggers that bitch. Well, at least I don’t.

[Shell B]

Gender slurs will cover hate speech. It really is simple.

[Tiberius]

Facts:

1. Most people here don’t use slurs; you cunts are fine.
2. Those who do, aren’t just going to get banned, we’re going to remind you of the rule, and if you keep at it, then we’ll start dishing out warnings.
3. The staff are adults, we understand there are slurs which have multiple meanings. We’re not trigger happy slur police. If you feel like a slur isn’t a slur, you can make an argument for it. Discussion of words is still fine.

[pocaracas]

Facts:

1. Most people here don’t use slurs; you cunts are fine.
2. Those who do, aren’t just going to get banned, we’re going to remind you of the rule, and if you keep at it, then we’ll start dishing out warnings.
3. The staff are adults, we understand there are slurs which have multiple meanings. We’re not trigger happy slur police. If you feel like a slur isn’t a slur, you can make an argument for it. Discussion of words is still fine.

Sounds good. Add that to the OP and in the rules themselves.

[Aegon]

As a woman, I feel like cunt and bitch are definitely not slurs. They’re swear words for sure but slurs? Nerp.

That's the core of the issue, isn't it? When those who identify as the same group disagree on terms pertaining to the group they're in, the level of offense it brings, and whether or not it should be censored. Beyond that, I think it's far worse when those who are not of that identity decide for those who are what is offensive to them, and what words should be censored for them, and Rob has a legitimate point when he calls that patronizing.

For the record, I don't personally hate the new rule. It won't affect me. I avoid those terms anyway... actually, I try my best to avoid any swear words that are used as a direct insult. However, I don't think this was a very good idea. I think there's more than 2 or 3 ways in which staff could penalize a racist without saying: any word that falls under this specific umbrella is now banned, with the exception of self-censorship which is basically just making everyone say the words in their own head instead.

My bold.
That's not what a literal reading of the rule specifies. Gender slurs are banned. Cunt can be used as a gender slur, hence cunt should be banned.

Cunt can also be used in a variety of non-slur ways. It can be used equally against every gender without anyone batting an eye. In Australia it has a neutral and sometimes even positive connotation. It’s not explicitly a gender slur. Can you say the same with the n word? No.

By that logic, f*ggot is out, but f*g is still in?

And then you need to acknowledge that there are some terms that are normalized that only a small subsection of people who identify as something will recognize as offensive, something not as obvious as the n-word. A transgender friend of mine finds "transsexual" as offensive as anything else you could call her that you know would be rude, because it has a certain history and connotation to her personally, and it is similar to "tranny" in some regard. The term "queer" was used as a slur against the gay community for decades, but now it's been re-purposed by young non-cis people as their actual identity; they call themselves queer with pride. Yet some still find it offensive and would not like to read/hear it. So what's the course of action for words like that? And how are non-native speakers supposed to navigate that landscape?

I'm on staff's side here, I don't want those words so freely spoken. I think it's insulting, and completely ridiculous, to argue about whether a person can say the n-word or not on the forum. We don't need some sort of logical, logistical debate with dictionary definitions on whether you're allowed to use the n-word because you think it's funny. I think penalizing somebody for that would fall under already existing rules. This complicates things.

---

Facts:

1. Most people here don’t use slurs; you cunts are fine.
2. Those who do, aren’t just going to get banned, we’re going to remind you of the rule, and if you keep at it, then we’ll start dishing out warnings.
3. The staff are adults, we understand there are slurs which have multiple meanings. We’re not trigger happy slur police. If you feel like a slur isn’t a slur, you can make an argument for it. Discussion of words is still fine.

Well this addresses my points, so. Cool.

[Aoi Magi]

If the rule already existed, I don’t see why there is a problem now that we’ve made a PSA. We added this to be explicit.

We’re not banning colorful language, we’re banning specific subsets of slurs. “Cunt” is not a slur, IMO, it’s just a vulgar word. It’s the same level as fuck, shit, twat, asshole, etc. These are all fine.

See this makes a lot more sense to me!

[Tiberius]

My wife suggested we change the word slur to “hate speech” so maybe that’s worth considering. She’s better with words than I am. Ultimately that’s what we don’t want here.