Content Note: Mental Illness Terminology
Ramblites, as you know, this is a Safe Space and that means that certain words that are part of the common vernacular around us in Real Life are not appropriate here because they can be hurtful and triggering for a large number of the commentariat.
In the past month or so, I've noticed several comments using the terms "crazy" and "insane" in manners that are not appropriate with regards to the commenting guidelines. I have not wanted to single anyone out because I know -- believe me, I know -- how hard it is to excise these words from our vocabulary and how harmless they seem from behind the magical intent-shield.
However, I want to ask everyone again to please be super-vigilant about their phrasing while posting. "Crazy evil", "crazy in love", "crazy prepared", "driving me insane", and similar popular phrases are harmful and triggering to a good many wonderful people here, and I ask that everyone find better ways to express themselves without relying on those terms.
Thank you.
10 comments:
Will attempt to comply. Feel free to whap me on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper if needed.
I really appreciate both you and Mark Oshiro taking a stringent line on this.
I was composing a blogpost on equal marriage today, and caught myself about to say that a particular decision was "insane" (Proposition 8's 2008 attempt to divorce George Takei and Brad Altman, and all the other same-sex couples who got married that year). Then I caught myself about to compose that sentence, realised that it was inappropriate, and mentally jigged about a bit until I could express what I meant to say in a more appropriate way..
This kind of mental jigging is in my view really good for a writer - it's too easy to slip into lazy cliches and standard ways to say things, and for whatever reason, making yourself not say something the lazy way is good discipline. But not using the lazy way of saying something because the lazy way is hurtful, is a really good reason for practicing this good discipline.
If I'm one of the ones who slipped, and I might have been, I'm very sorry: it wasn't intentional, and I'm trying to do better.
I try, but given that it's the kind of thing that you don't really notice your failures on, I have no idea how often I fail.
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@EdinburghEye
I looked at your blog, George Takei is adorable. Probably not the message I was supposed to take away from that, but he really is.
I was composing a blogpost on equal marriage today, and caught myself about to say that a particular decision was "insane" (Proposition 8's 2008 attempt to divorce George Takei and Brad Altman, and all the other same-sex couples who got married that year). Then I caught myself about to compose that sentence, realised that it was inappropriate, and mentally jigged about a bit until I could express what I meant to say in a more appropriate way..
Such a decision is markedly irrational in a manner harmful to self and others (mostly others), so it wouldn't be inaccurate... that said, I understand the concept behind the ban and agree with it in context... and that word in particular has been slurified enough that it probably is best to avoid in most situations...
Content Note: Mental Illness Terminology
As a general thread note, please note that this is not a "ban" on mental illness terminology, but a reminder to use them judiciously and with very great care and caution. To quote myself on another thread:
As an example, Melissa McEwan frequently uses the term "crazy" to unpack why society commonly uses it and why it shouldn't. Which, obviously, wouldn't be possible if the goal was to NEVER use the term at all. Link, link, link. But, again, reclamation/explanation/education are to be approached with caution -- see last night's metapost about posting on this board.
The examples I gave in the in OP are examples where these words should not be used because they do not add meaning (as EdinburghEye pointed out: it is not "insane" to try to nullify a stranger's marriage -- it is "hateful" and "cruel" and "horrible" and thus the use of the term there is not only perpetuating harmful stereotypes, it is also inaccurate) and they cause harm.
But that does not mean the words are banned completely. There may be cases where people may choose to use them to reclaim, educate, or explain. I expect these cases will be handled carefully and noted with appropriate trigger warnings, as in the case of this post.
I hope you'll smack me down if I frak up about this. I've noticed that, more in my speech than my writing,, like during thirty-minute LP recordings or something on the Youtubes, I'll end up letting that particular term slip still. Much less than before, but ugh. I'll never stop saying 'God damn it' but at least that's not as harmful as mental illness stuff.
Thanks Ana. Also, Melissa McEwen's writing on how dismissing your opponents as 'crazy' can make you underestimate them is fascinating, I'd never looked at it that way before. Personally I'm pretty sensitive to the word 'crazy' being applied to me or to my actions -- having a history of mild depression and a family tendency towards bipolar can make an innocent statement like "I'm so glad you're not crazy" seem like a horrible threat! (Because what if I WAS? Because I kind of AM, I'm just really good at managing it). But I hadn't looked at it from the perspective McEwen outlines, in which saying "oh, those people are just crazy" is a way of (falsely) dismissing an ideology's impact on the world, to say nothing of diminishing a deeper understanding of a person in favour of a label.
Thanks for providing this clear policy.
TW: Mental illness terms
I've probably always had somewhat positive connotations with 'crazy', and ideally I'd like that to become the standard - having been called crazy plenty of times in my life, and variably coping with a variety of real mental issues myself, I think that 'crazy awesome' is a great phrase for stuff like, say, the theory of relativity: what do you mean energy and mass and space and time are all the same thing? That's ridiculous. That's amazing. That's a kind of truth and marvel that requires a radically abnormal perspective on the world in order to grasp. That is crazy awesome.
But! That is not how people tend to use it. And I keep having to try to find gentle and effective methods to get people to stop doing the dismissive and harmful thing instead. (Repeatedly useful statement in my life: "No, no, I don't think the problem is that they're crazy. Crazy people are pretty okay. I have yet to see crazy people try to oppress my friends. I'm pretty sure the problem with these folks is that they're evil bigots.") So, I have no problem with there just being a uniform restriction on all uses of the term, and will observe forthwith.
ut that does not mean the words are banned completely. There may be cases where people may choose to use them to reclaim, educate, or explain.
Thanks for this. I tend to use "crazy" a lot in a reclaiming way - about me, as a rule - and Mark Oshiro's blanket-ban is something I find very stifling.
TW: Terminology for Mental Illness, Misogyny, and Body Policing
@Will and Deird,
Word Reclamation is something that I'm very sympathetic to. So, Deird, no thanks necessary but you are nevertheless welcome; and Will, thank you for remembering to use the TW prior to using the word in your post.
(There is, in fact, an upcoming "Recommends" post on 7/1 that features a Cracked.com video that uses a highly inappropriate slur for mental illness and -- it being Cracked.com -- I can't tell if it's a legitimate attempt at Constructive Criticism or a gleeful yay-we-have-an-excuse-to-use-the-word example. So I went ahead and linked to the video and posted a strong TW prior to the link and people are welcome to discuss in the comments.)
The same general "use judiciously, and post trigger warnings" request for comments here also applies to word reclamation here of words traditionally used in support of misogyny and body policing -- which is probably self-evident already since I've used many of those words in posts, seeing that I'm a member of the affected groups (i.e., I'm female and fat).
But I just wanted to reiterate that, yes, this is not a blanket ban against reclamation/education/explanation (although I do ask TW be in place for that) so much as a safe space ban against casual misuse.
I hope that's clear. :)
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