History of Feminism
In reply to the discussion: (HOF THREAD!) SO is the word "BITCH" still acceptable on DU... [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)precise. They express an emotion of disgust. But they don't describe the person discussed. They say more about the person using the word and that person's emotions than about the person they are used to describe.
I have seen websites on which the discussion just decays into people calling each other and third persons words that mean that the person writing the word doesn't like the person about whom they are writing but that don't say anything more.
And it gets worse when people use meaningless but mean epithets to respond to others posting on the website. The discussion degenerates into name-calling with names that may mean something say in the animal world, but don't really mean anything when used with regard to a person other than "I don't like you, or him/her." It's a waste.
There are words that are not used in civil society. It's kind of a silly custom, but that is part of our language. I don't think that say German is as restrictive. But if you used the B word in a courtroom, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble. So why should we use it on DU?
It isn't a crime to use the words we consider profane. In our lives we can say what we want depending on the situation. But on a discussion forum, I think we should try to use words that mean something more than "I'm mad and I'm going to use a word that really has no meaning other than to insult someone to prove it."
There are lots of things to say about Palin without using hte B word, lots of more interesting things to say than can be said with the B word. Using the B word is an excuse for contributing to the conversation on DU. There are places to use the B word -- with friends, shouting at the TV, -- lots of places. But DU is better when we ban the word. Speech is not free on DU. We have rules. That's why we have juries.
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