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Subtweet about naming:
We over-rely on generic cultural terms to avoid having to define what we actually mean. When the origins and meanings of these words come under scrutiny, we can then easily say, "well, we all get what it means," which is, it turns out, often untrue.
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We over-rely on generic cultural terms to avoid having to define what we actually mean. When the origins and meanings of these words come under scrutiny, we can then easily say, "well, we all get what it means," which is, it turns out, often untrue.
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We (royal we) who are centred, in power, and otherwise rarely have to question ourselves perpetuate these terms without looking them up.
When someone who is harmed by these terms brings it to our attention, we are overwhelmed by changing what feels IMPOSSIBLE (to us).
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When someone who is harmed by these terms brings it to our attention, we are overwhelmed by changing what feels IMPOSSIBLE (to us).
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The change seems hard because it calls attention to the fact that we poorly defined the term to begin with:
- master/slave
- whitelist/blacklist
- limp mode (which MANY MODERN CARS **INCLUDING TESLA** USE)
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- master/slave
- whitelist/blacklist
- limp mode (which MANY MODERN CARS **INCLUDING TESLA** USE)
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Most of these terms have very clear alternatives that actually make the terms BETTER and more understandable for legacy usage. It takes the reliance on just being an Old who Was There when it was Used A Lot.
It takes away vagueness, which is good for beginners/new people.
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It takes away vagueness, which is good for beginners/new people.
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I think a major unspoken reason we're so resistant to many of these changes is that by allowing for the change, we have to sort of accept our complicity in the harm that those terms have done, in our own situations and historically.
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Refusing to change the terms allows us to remain "ignorant", using the popularity/ubiquity of a term as our defence, and most importantly, allows us to not examine our own complicity and lack of due diligence in perpetuating harm.
I rarely think it's about the actual effort.
I rarely think it's about the actual effort.
The advice I give people who are just awakening to their own disableist, queermisic, transmisic, racist language is to **be more specific.**
It works almost every time after a bit of reflection. What did we really mean? What impact do we want to have when sharing what we meant?
It works almost every time after a bit of reflection. What did we really mean? What impact do we want to have when sharing what we meant?
