posted
If a new member or someone I think of as a liberal posts the "b" word or a certain hand gesture, I find it offensive and have been known to blow the whistle on them. But then I feel reluctant to do so if someone I think of as a good Mormon, working for a Mormon institution, does so.
I'm also paranoid that I posted a link that I didn't read in its entirety which may well have had offensive content. If so, I apologize. Anyway...
There was also Ralphie's forbidden link, which I found very funny and didn't report, though apparently someone did.
So what do you think, is the offensiveness of a word, gesture or phrase really dependent upon who says it?
posted
Totally. I don't know if I could justify it, but I definitely find myself thinking things are inappropriate coming from one person but not from another.
Posts: 981 | Registered: Aug 2003
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I can't stand Andy Warhol. I think he's empty, and any brilliance was temporary.
The myth of Andy Warhol evaporated for me when I learned that spent his entire life living with his mother. It's like Katharine Hepburn - no she wasn't this incredibly brave woman who bucked tradition, she just stayed a child all her life! She didn't rebel by not getting married and doing whatever she wanted anymore than a fifteen-year-old rebels by not getting married and doing whatever she wants. Katharine Hepburn had a rich, incredibly giving family who always gave her a base. Nice work if you can get it, but it isn't something for which to be admired.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Pooka, Pat's other brothers and I have been trying to get him to see that the two are equal, whether online or in person it means the same. His reply was to give the actual sign.
I might, if something like the mauibabe/Ellen thing happened and no one else had reported it, but by the time I got to that thread it had already been reported.
I don't think I'd report a curse word, though. Not even if it were a conservative, where the hypocrisy would be even greater.
posted
I might have assumed without just cause, Kayla when pooka talked about people who had blown the whistle on Ralphie's questionable link, it just struck me. I didn't figure that people were reported that often, that's all. Except in matters of trolling or a veteran argument gotten out of control, I hadn't heard of or noticed any other whistle-blowns.
posted
Ralphie, I whistle at half the board. And some of the men, too!
(Uh oh, I wonder if that will be me blown. The whistle, you freak!)
(Oh, I wonder if someone blew the whistle on me the other day. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, Ralphie-sorority-babe.)
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Oh, i thought pooka was referring to the link that Ralphie posted the other evening...completely forget what it was, but she put a disclaimer on it, something like "not for everyone!" although not that at all.
posted
Some jerk (it took a lot for me not to say ass just then. Aw damn! I said it! ACK! I swore AGAIN! I'm an incurable potty mouth! o_O) whistled at me running today.
And yes, I gave him the finger.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
Sort of off topic, so feel free to kick the n00b.
You know, being the nice little Mormon boy that I am, I always heard growing up that thinking a bad word is just as bad as saying it. Can that be so? I think that is a bunch of crap. For instance, I have thought all sorts of violent thoughts about just how I would relish beating the snot out of some folks before, but I didn't do it. So was thinking about doing it just as bad as if I had done it? If so, well, frankly I'm screwed.
Okay, more on topic here (the original topic).
I think that we pretty much invent our own offensive words. I don't think it has anything to do with who says it, but with ourselves. I always grew up thinking that certain words were "bad" or vulgar. Then I served a mission in Guatemala and heard those words all the time (with a distinctive Spanish pronunciation) and they just made me laugh. Suddenly these offensive words were just ridiculous. And their Spanish counterparts, well, I just find those even more amusing. I suppose for the most part I no longer found them offensive, so much as I found them cheap and weak. The fact that the best insult someone could come up with was to tell me to "**** off" or call me an "hijo de la gran ****" said something to me about the mentality of that person.
And, for the most part, while I don't choose to use those words (with some occasional lapses of course) I suppose that they just don't seem offensive anymore, rather they just seem peurile. And that doesn't really have anything to do with the person saying them, but my own choice on how to perceive them.
Argh, I have no idea if that made any sense. If not, kick me again.
Edit: Of course, sometimes they just seem appropriate to use because of the inherent humor in certain words/gestures. But, that is just me.
posted
Anyone else highly uncomfortable and slightly irritated that people seem to be whistling posts so often?
Posts: 7600 | Registered: Jan 2001
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I'm also suprised to hear that the whistle icon is being used so frequently around here.
It may be against the TOS, but folks, if you haven't seen a mod delete a post or warn a member for a similar offense in the past, it's probably not worth their effort to chase it down. Some words or symbols are simply tolerated around here, even if they are impolite. You might not like that this is the case, but it's not your board. The people whose job it is to moderate have chosen to not get involved when the occasional finger gets flipped or when someone says "crap" or "pissed off" or "damn" or something similar. If they've ignored it in the past, what do you think they're going to do when you report it? They're going to ignore it again, because obviously they have more pressing concerns than chastising or censoring every person who posts four hyphens and an 'I'. But in the meantime, they have one or more e-mails that they will have to look through just to make sure it's not something really important.
Remember a year or so ago when the mods were seriously considering whether or not Hatrack was worth the trouble? Do we want to add to the workload?
Folks, save the whistle for the really serious stuff. The hateful insults. The spamming. The porn. The rest of the time, if you're so offended, say so yourself in a post or e-mail. And be open to the possibility that you may be alone in being offended.
posted
And if a link has a warning that says it's borderline objectionable . . . if you know you are easily offended, why are you following the link?! You were warned--where do you come off feeling offended?!
Note: this is not expressly directed at anyone in this thread, but at the situation described here in which a link with a disclaimer on it was whistled. Seems like some people are just whistle-happy. Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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quote:Anyone else highly uncomfortable and slightly irritated that people seem to be whistling posts so often?
yes.
apparently i am unable to convey my emotions through my posting. That is exactly what i was trying to express.
Posts: 3516 | Registered: Sep 2002
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posted
Actually, why is someone whistling posts making people uncomfortable?
I've done it a couple times, but I really think it was warranted. Not slightly racy links like Ralphie, er, Ralphie's, but stuff that honestly, truly doesn't seem like it should be here.
Definitely gratuitous whistling would add to the work of the mods, which we desperately want to avoid so they keep letting us play here, but why would you be offended at someone being offended?
It seems a bit like being told on, but what's the alternative? Those being offended should just be quiet and not say anything? That's hardly fair. Turned around, it would mean that any who want to be anything but Blues Clues rated should be quiet and not say anything. Blowing the whistle is one of the cogs in keeping the community balanced - it's still up to mods in terms of what stays and what doesn't.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I haven't seen any indication that there was an inordinate about of whistling going on. If it was bugging Kathy or Kristine, would they tell us? I'd hope so. Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
I thought the whistle just meant it was lunchtime. No wonder I've been eating so many sandwhiches.
Posts: 3056 | Registered: Jun 2001
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quote:Anyone else highly uncomfortable and slightly irritated that people seem to be whistling posts so often?
Yes
Because I believe in discourse over punishment. I can't imagine blowing the whistle on anyone on this board, for no other reason that in my view, anything that is serious enough to tell the moderators about is serious enough to tell the police about.
In addition, I get the feeling that these whistles have been blown without warning. Tact would presume after a public statement about feeling generally uncomfortable, then a private e-mail to ask courtesy and to state that I'm seriously offended or affected, then a whistle blow, but if I ever blew the whistle, I'd start a new thread about it immediately because if so and so's behavior was affecting me, it would probably be affecting other people as well, and it would be better to expose and talk about the behavior so that everyone can learn.
I think whistle-blowing in this context is both lazy and almost ludicrous. I can't imagine a situation where I'd whistle blow in this forum. There are too many more civil options.
quote: Is it me or is there some McCarthy-istic thinking going on here?
From my POV, you call the SS on people you don't like. Yeah, I'm disgusted.
_______________________________________________
quote:If it was bugging Kathy or Kristine, would they tell us? I'd hope so.
Does anyone else see the irony in this statement?
_______________________________________________
But this does beg the question, I wonder if there is a correlation between whistle-blowers and death penalty adovocates, Or whistle-blowers and people who believe in punitive sentences. Or even religion. The entire idea of sending a silent call to a powerful body to smite a fellow member is eerie.
posted
*grin* Don't you think they'd blow the whistle on Hatrack if were doing too much of the whistling of posts?
Irami, there isn't irony because we aren't deleting each other's posts, we are informing the central authority. All your bits about communication still apply; they are just being done by the moderators rather than ourselves. You like the idea of a strong central government with the power and will to solve social concerns; this should appeal to you.
I DON'T like the idea of a strong, central government with that power, but I like it here for while I do not trust that power to career policians and strangers in it for the power, I do trust Kathy and Kristine.
Sometimes, calling attention to a post would cause greater damage. Every battle doesn't need to be refought every time.
quote:The entire idea of sending a silent call to a powerful body to smite a fellow member is eerie.
I think there is something there.
Irami, when the whistle-blowing feature appeared, your main concern was that it would be used against you. I have to say, this is not a flattering picture you are painting of the mods.
It isn't a death penalty. It's more like a letter to your congressman. Do you object to that kind of thing?
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