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can i call myself jocksik mcfenscum, for example?
Well, probably, yes, and I think by doing so you would demonstrate the substantive difference - there isn't really anything that offensive there. Contrast that with somebody who might want to read Barbelith but who has negative experiences of being racially abused finding the word with which he or she was abused on a page over and over again.
First up, how do you explain before that person leaves in disgust that it's OK, the other person is entitled to use the term because they claim that they belong to the group which would be on the receiving end of it as an insult? We've already had at least one case on Barbelith of somebody claiming to belong to a minority group dishonestly while throwing around racist terminology, and I don't immediately see where our safeguard is there. So, that's a complication, and probably one where we have to rely to an extent on people not being idiots. When people are idiots, we'll deal with that. As Falconer says, it's probably a case by case thing.
Now, there _are_ probably questions about whether we're more sensitive to race than to gender or sexuality around here, which maybe needs to be explored (also, LMPB was a female-identifying suit, which is also worth a thought). |
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