gurgle coo
Mar. 10th, 2003 09:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
phineasjonesok. well, i had just crafted a post that began with delightful squeeing about using semagic again. but alas, semagic was just being a bit of a bastard to me. i think i can get over it. i'm using my mother's laptop into which my father has installed my hard drive. it's bliss, i tell you, bliss!!!
i feel really good about last night's rehearsal. it was for the symphony/combined chorus thing we're doing. i managed to get us through both pieces in exactly two hours with a combination of note-learning and review. someone new told me i lead a 'wonderful, comfortable, efficient' rehearsal. wheee!!! that's what i'm trying to do, yo. and the orchestra conductor - who had been politely treating me like a pain in his ass as i constantly badgered him for plans and details - came up to me afterward (he had been accompanying) and said something like 'you know your stuff.' heh. that's right. heh. now the challenge is to get him to call me choir master in the program. it probably wouldn't matter to anyone but me - but it would be an excellent boost to my resume. but how to ask... i was thinking polite request? and explanation of why i want it? do i mention that i deserve as much for all the work i've done? hmm.
so, a while ago i saved a draft of a rant about the use of the word 'retarded.' i think i'll post in now so i don't have to save it off the hard drive with the rest of my crap.
the summer before my senior year of college, i worked as a chamber maid in a little inn. my co-chamber maid was an annoying 16 year old boy named max who couldn't clean a room to save his life. more annoying to me though was his habit of using the word 'gay' as an insult. or a general negative word - a la 'ugh, that's so gay. one day, i couldn't take it anymore, i put down the feather duster, turned to him and explained calmly but thoroughly why that bothered me so much. how using a word that people identify with in such a negative context implies negativity and disrespect toward those people. 'gay' is not a bad thing and if you don't think it is, you shouldn't use it that way. to my everlasting surprise, he quietly agreed and i never heard him say it again. (this may possibly have been related to him asking me to buy beer for him and his friends later on that week).
i bring this up because i have similar feelings about the word 'retarded.' and i notice quite a few people around these lj parts using it the way max used 'gay.' and it bothers me just as much. every time i read it, i flinch. it's so... it's not something i'm used to hearing from people who understand the weight and import of words and the way they're used. which i think most of my 'friends' here are. i'm not talking about any specific people here, i honestly don't remember who has used it and who hasn't. i'm just bringing this up in case it's something someone wants or needs to think about. i honestly would want anyone to point out to me if i were doing something similar. so... that's all.
i feel really good about last night's rehearsal. it was for the symphony/combined chorus thing we're doing. i managed to get us through both pieces in exactly two hours with a combination of note-learning and review. someone new told me i lead a 'wonderful, comfortable, efficient' rehearsal. wheee!!! that's what i'm trying to do, yo. and the orchestra conductor - who had been politely treating me like a pain in his ass as i constantly badgered him for plans and details - came up to me afterward (he had been accompanying) and said something like 'you know your stuff.' heh. that's right. heh. now the challenge is to get him to call me choir master in the program. it probably wouldn't matter to anyone but me - but it would be an excellent boost to my resume. but how to ask... i was thinking polite request? and explanation of why i want it? do i mention that i deserve as much for all the work i've done? hmm.
so, a while ago i saved a draft of a rant about the use of the word 'retarded.' i think i'll post in now so i don't have to save it off the hard drive with the rest of my crap.
the summer before my senior year of college, i worked as a chamber maid in a little inn. my co-chamber maid was an annoying 16 year old boy named max who couldn't clean a room to save his life. more annoying to me though was his habit of using the word 'gay' as an insult. or a general negative word - a la 'ugh, that's so gay. one day, i couldn't take it anymore, i put down the feather duster, turned to him and explained calmly but thoroughly why that bothered me so much. how using a word that people identify with in such a negative context implies negativity and disrespect toward those people. 'gay' is not a bad thing and if you don't think it is, you shouldn't use it that way. to my everlasting surprise, he quietly agreed and i never heard him say it again. (this may possibly have been related to him asking me to buy beer for him and his friends later on that week).
i bring this up because i have similar feelings about the word 'retarded.' and i notice quite a few people around these lj parts using it the way max used 'gay.' and it bothers me just as much. every time i read it, i flinch. it's so... it's not something i'm used to hearing from people who understand the weight and import of words and the way they're used. which i think most of my 'friends' here are. i'm not talking about any specific people here, i honestly don't remember who has used it and who hasn't. i'm just bringing this up in case it's something someone wants or needs to think about. i honestly would want anyone to point out to me if i were doing something similar. so... that's all.
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Here, here!
Date: 2003-03-10 07:01 am (UTC)Re: Here, here!
Date: 2003-03-10 07:24 am (UTC)i agree with you here, except, I believe GW Bush might be an exception. i feel alright calling him stupid. would you still avoid the word in this example? what about "fascist"? i feel comfortable calling him a fascist too but i wouldn't find it appropriate for most.
kidding aside, i agree with the general statement here. i'm infuriated by the use of the word "retarded" and am shocked to hear it from peers...happens too often.
Re: Here, here!
Date: 2003-03-10 07:30 am (UTC)and i use fascist as an insult somewhat frequently... it's not like i'm worried about insulting real fascists. i suppose the danger there is more about taking the real meaning away from the word and making it less potent. i'll still call GWB a stupid fascist because i think he deserves both.
Re: Here, here!
Date: 2003-03-10 07:39 am (UTC)Re: Here, here!
Date: 2003-03-10 07:41 am (UTC)::head explodes::
Re: Here, here!
Date: 2003-03-10 08:26 am (UTC)that's my story about that.
as i think about this more, i think i'm concluding that i don't think it's a great idea to call someone stupid (except above example and related individuals), however, it isn't quite the same issue as calling someone "retarded" or "gay". calling someone "stupid" insults that person. Calling someone "retarded" insults that person and insults a whole group of people through implication. it has a two-punch effect of saying 'all those people are bad' and 'you are one of those people'. not nice in any way.
Re: Here, here!
Date: 2003-03-10 08:43 am (UTC)i still don't like the word stupid, though. i think on some level, at least for me, stupid implies that there's some absolute of smart and stupid... or at least, in some situations -- especially in education. ("this may be a stupid question, but.." meaning that only some questions are valid... or, "you're a smart kid, you'll do well," meaning others won't do well because they weren't born with the brains for it.)
(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-10 07:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-10 07:35 am (UTC)ahahaha!!! <3s dykes to watch out for. thanks for that link.
hey, rhapsody jones... i wonder if we're distant relations...
(no subject)
Date: 2003-03-16 07:49 am (UTC)'Tis possible. I came from the time when the skies were on fire, and thought I was the last of my race. There was a small child unaccounted for, however... could that possibly be you?