Friday, June 24, 2005
Man will never be truly free until the last politician is hung by the entrails of the last priest.
How easily do you get offended? You are still reading this after you saw the headline, so you must not get too offended. Either that or you are so outraged you just had to see what an entry could be about with such a rude start. I saw this quote on someone’s blog a year or so ago and I always thought it was a very combative way to express an opinion that many of us may have (to some degree anyway), yet would not dare to express in such a manner.
I just thought it was a good way to start my blog about being offended by words, which are more or less just sounds of different pitch and tempo. I have been very interested in language and communication lately, and my hobbies of anthropology and Japanese only enhance this interest. One thing that I will discuss today (in my own Bubblegoose way) is the notion of people being deeply offended by the words of others.
You see, I could never be president. My mouth has shot off several times in the past and I have often unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally) allowed my humor come at the expense of others. And I can’t promise it won’t happen again. Even today. But I could always lie about my words and say that I was taken out of context (like all good politicians do), but I am not smart enough NOT to record my own words.
Case in point: Sir Eddie and the Tough Jew. It’s a story I wrote in high school, I think I still have it in a folder somewhere. If that ever was released to the press, my political career would be dead before it hit the floor. You see, I wanted to write a parody of the feats of the Knights of the Round Table. So I decided to do the easy way out and make a racial story. It contained every stereotype I could muster about the evil "Tough Jew." After I wrote it, even though it was funny, I immediately realized how offensive it was. But I still wanted to hand it in… so I wrote a small paragraph at the beginning that served as a disclaimer saying these views were not my own, but were only done as a parody and for humor…
The problem is that an enlightened mind wouldn’t even have thought to write those things, much less find them funny. I feel bad that I still laugh when I read (although the laughter is more at the expense of my own audacity and the whole ‘reelin’ in the years’ vibe it gives me). But, if I may play devil’s advocate, why is it that words are so offensive?
What if I say "God watches you pee" or "A squirrel probably pooped on the grave of your dead grandmother?" Neither is really all that untrue, but there are those who would be red-faced, fist-clenched mad about such things. Somewhere as we (or language itself) have evolved to use sound as communication, we have also associated the receipt of sound with emotional response. A baby is cute when it makes random sounds. Foreign languages sound fun when we have no idea what they mean. But when you mix seemingly random noises to make a word like "kike" or "nigger," you suddenly have a scene on your hands (and rightfully so I may add).
Even the notion of cursing is funny to me. It is weird that we have assigned a black label status to certain words. I mean, not all cultures do this. But all seem to have the notion of rudeness, and words that should not be used in certain situations. English is a weird language anyway, and it is interesting that with all of its exceptions and odd pronunciations that it has become the lingua franca of the world.
Anyway, we have words like "bunt," "duck," and "rich" that raise not alarms, but change a letter or two in each and you have sinned against God and man (in some company anyway). So when you are all alone and lose your balance on your bike, and hit a tree branch hard, and say "shit!" you are such a bad person. Right? To me it has always been "no harm no foul." I try not to curse because really it is a very unintelligent way to express yourself. And since it is perceived as improper and impolite, I try to fall into societal norms. But, if I am not directing the word at another person, trying to hurt their feelings, I don’t see any harm in uttering any noise from my mouth. But even enlightened me feels bad when I step in dog crap (on your dead grandmother’s grave) and say "son of a bitch!" (kidding about the grandmother thing, don’t be offended… haha)
It is interesting to me that we react so readily to the words of others. There are people who have made entire careers playing on this response. Politicians and advertising agencies sink millions of dollars into how to say something without offending folks. Anyone in a public profession (such as ministry, politics, teaching, or medicine for example) can attest that what you say often shapes others view of who you are and what you stand for. The words we use are often the only criteria used for inclusion or exclusion from the in-groups that form and dissipate in society. Just bring up abortion and your opinions in a public place and see what happens… or in my case, evolution.
So anyway, think about it. Think about what offends you, how you judge people by what they say, and how others react to your words. If you are like me, and have the triple threat of characteristics (humor, honesty, and unashamed of your thoughts), you probably have a hard go of life from time to time because of this phenomena. If you want, email me your experiences, as I find it interesting.
Horns up.
I just thought it was a good way to start my blog about being offended by words, which are more or less just sounds of different pitch and tempo. I have been very interested in language and communication lately, and my hobbies of anthropology and Japanese only enhance this interest. One thing that I will discuss today (in my own Bubblegoose way) is the notion of people being deeply offended by the words of others.
You see, I could never be president. My mouth has shot off several times in the past and I have often unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally) allowed my humor come at the expense of others. And I can’t promise it won’t happen again. Even today. But I could always lie about my words and say that I was taken out of context (like all good politicians do), but I am not smart enough NOT to record my own words.
Case in point: Sir Eddie and the Tough Jew. It’s a story I wrote in high school, I think I still have it in a folder somewhere. If that ever was released to the press, my political career would be dead before it hit the floor. You see, I wanted to write a parody of the feats of the Knights of the Round Table. So I decided to do the easy way out and make a racial story. It contained every stereotype I could muster about the evil "Tough Jew." After I wrote it, even though it was funny, I immediately realized how offensive it was. But I still wanted to hand it in… so I wrote a small paragraph at the beginning that served as a disclaimer saying these views were not my own, but were only done as a parody and for humor…
The problem is that an enlightened mind wouldn’t even have thought to write those things, much less find them funny. I feel bad that I still laugh when I read (although the laughter is more at the expense of my own audacity and the whole ‘reelin’ in the years’ vibe it gives me). But, if I may play devil’s advocate, why is it that words are so offensive?
What if I say "God watches you pee" or "A squirrel probably pooped on the grave of your dead grandmother?" Neither is really all that untrue, but there are those who would be red-faced, fist-clenched mad about such things. Somewhere as we (or language itself) have evolved to use sound as communication, we have also associated the receipt of sound with emotional response. A baby is cute when it makes random sounds. Foreign languages sound fun when we have no idea what they mean. But when you mix seemingly random noises to make a word like "kike" or "nigger," you suddenly have a scene on your hands (and rightfully so I may add).
Even the notion of cursing is funny to me. It is weird that we have assigned a black label status to certain words. I mean, not all cultures do this. But all seem to have the notion of rudeness, and words that should not be used in certain situations. English is a weird language anyway, and it is interesting that with all of its exceptions and odd pronunciations that it has become the lingua franca of the world.
Anyway, we have words like "bunt," "duck," and "rich" that raise not alarms, but change a letter or two in each and you have sinned against God and man (in some company anyway). So when you are all alone and lose your balance on your bike, and hit a tree branch hard, and say "shit!" you are such a bad person. Right? To me it has always been "no harm no foul." I try not to curse because really it is a very unintelligent way to express yourself. And since it is perceived as improper and impolite, I try to fall into societal norms. But, if I am not directing the word at another person, trying to hurt their feelings, I don’t see any harm in uttering any noise from my mouth. But even enlightened me feels bad when I step in dog crap (on your dead grandmother’s grave) and say "son of a bitch!" (kidding about the grandmother thing, don’t be offended… haha)
It is interesting to me that we react so readily to the words of others. There are people who have made entire careers playing on this response. Politicians and advertising agencies sink millions of dollars into how to say something without offending folks. Anyone in a public profession (such as ministry, politics, teaching, or medicine for example) can attest that what you say often shapes others view of who you are and what you stand for. The words we use are often the only criteria used for inclusion or exclusion from the in-groups that form and dissipate in society. Just bring up abortion and your opinions in a public place and see what happens… or in my case, evolution.
So anyway, think about it. Think about what offends you, how you judge people by what they say, and how others react to your words. If you are like me, and have the triple threat of characteristics (humor, honesty, and unashamed of your thoughts), you probably have a hard go of life from time to time because of this phenomena. If you want, email me your experiences, as I find it interesting.
Horns up.
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