Recalling from last class while Achtermann was making copies/printing the test when some girls used the term "fag".
Events (which will not be clearly presented by me since I was only half paying attention to the ridiculous scene) were as follows: Girl 1 uses the word "fag", other self righteous girl 2 in class tells her not to use the word because it's insulting, girl 3 cops an attitude (as usual) and becomes a smart mouthed twit, self righteous girl 2 gets really mad and yells, girl 3 makes herself look even more silly and childish, self righteous girl 2 gives up in anger at the futility of arguing with such a stupid, stupid girl in the first place.
I (being a self righteous girl myself - cocky, sometimes silly and generally full of disgust for the likes of girl 3) would've put my two cents in on the matter had I found an opening.
She would be a total waste of space if she didn't remind of what I left behind and everything I now stand for.
But I'll come back to that later...
Back to why I started this post. I find it fascinating how words take on different connotations for different people. For self righteous girl 2 and myself the word "fag" is derogatory to say the least. Having been close with many gay men I think they deserve more respect than "fag" implies. It doesn't even sound friendly, it's hateful and negative.
Now I'm not saying people shouldn't have freedom of speech, they can say what they want when they want, I just think a little respect is appropriate. When you say something that upsets another person either an apology or just an aknowledgement that, hey, it was inappropriate and you won't do it again out of respect for that person... Unless you're Girl 3 at which point you get up on your high horse (even though god forbid she ever ride a horse, maybe horses should ride us because we're sooooo terrible to the animals, woe is me) and start spewing sarcastic idiotic comments like there's no tomorrow.
Which brings me to my other point - Girl 3 and her animal rights issues.
I'm as supportive as the next girl of animal rights and love to see more support to the cause EXCEPT for when the support comes in the form of Ms. "I know everything even though I researched nothing and have a low vocabulary". If she doesn't know what she's talking about, she SHOULDN'T talk about it. All her bitching about animal rights - the whole thing is laughable. Does she protest? Do her actions in any way support her words? No. She's just another stupid girl touting ideas she knows nothing about.
I'd like to see her go out of her way for anything other than herself. To see her step up the plate and really do something important.
Until then I'll resent her with every fiber of my being. Every hour (though few) I spent protesting in the cold, every flyer I've passed out, every news story I've read and every animal I've ever helped make me a better activist than her.
More power to the educated activist.
Anything that helps fight the good fight.
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The REALLY important thing -- what Achtermann really wants to know -- is whether his manly self was being labelled as a "fag". Because then it would only be a matter of figuring out who were the three "girls" and imposing very serious strictures on the naughty ones.
Yes, "fag" as a derogatory term is nasty, but I think even as a term for a cigarette-end it is a bit raw seeming.
My middle-school physical-education instructor, for three years, addressed me as "fag", "faggot", "gay-boy", "sissy", "homo", and so on. This was, I suppose, intended to make me more eager to have him inspect me as I came out of the gang showers, to determine whether I had properly washed myself, which he also construed as being part of his job description. Or perhaps he was just giving the school board that extra something for his pay.
As a confirmed heterosexual (then and now), I must say that I found his usage doubly insulting: for its vulgarity, perhaps, first and foremost (the most "vulgar" term I can remember my parents using when I was a kid was "crap", which required an extraordinarily upsetting even to elicit), but also for its fundamental unfairness: I was not what he seemed to think I was, and it did not help my social standing in the least that a faculty member should so identify me. His intent, I think, had nothing to do with real definition or description; his intent was to infuriate me so much that I would turn into some sort of muscle-man right in front of his eyes, but no: I was a gawky, spindly, boy, younger and thinner than nearly everyone else in the class, unable or unwilling to do even four push-ups in a row.
But that has very little to do with sexual preference. It HAS much to do with sexual prowess; it's hard to compete at the middle school dance when "everyone knows" you'd "rather dance with a guy". I elected to sit in study hall drawing rather than endure the mockery of standing on the sidelines, to be picked by the dregs, who must have had similar experiences on their side...
Re: persons with small vocabularies and small stomach for protest. The small vocabulary issue has shown up before on this blog: a sore point it seems. But it is to develop our capacities that we come to school.
Hast thou modelled the way of protest for thy simple-tongued sister? Be not over-ready to decline.
There is, of course, a fashion for the appearance of protest, and indeed I have known those who protest as a fashion. How many of these become dull working cogs in the industrial-military machine I can't guess; some become effectively wards of the state. But they have their own reward. Sometimes they find it in Goodwill, sometimes in J Jill.
Philosophically, what is more important than the person delivering the argument is the argument itself. ARE we, in fact, dreadful to non-human animals? (Yes.) Are we, in fact, disrespectful to others? (Yes) Well, then. What are we to do about it? Clearly, complaining is a start -- it gets the juices flowing, so to speak. But it is not enough.
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