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Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

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Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#822

Oh wow there was "latinx" there. People from Latin America take a lot of umbrage at having this little exonym pushed on us, believe me. It feels like colonialism. The term "Hispanic" is already very broad to refer to people from a large collection of polities with several cultural spheres in it, but at least the concept of "hispanoamérica" exists in it, and the word isn't a novel take on the Spanish language coming f…

You speak for all latin americans?

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#823
Is there a list of universities that don't do this kind of thing? I wouldn't want to send my kids to a university that published this, I want them to think for themselves. I certainly will strongly discourage them from applying to Stanford. Are there others I should be wary of?

(incidentally, not _all_ of the list is ridiculous, but most of it clearly is)

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#824

It's pretty remarkable that this conflates: - Well-known slurs like "Jewed" - Outdated, now-offensive terms like "hermaphrodite" - Touchy metaphorical language like "slave replica" - Gendered terms that if you're being assiduous you probably want to avoid, like "manpower" - Words that have long since lost any stigmatizing meaning by virtue of the original use being so ancient ("lame", "dumb", "stupid") - Words that,…

All these categories have something in common - their use can be seen as rude in a particular setting, the rest is bullshit. You can be rude using the most refined vocabulary. You won't exterminate rudeness by banning a set of words, nor should you be trying to. By giving people an option to be rude you can see people that choose not to. And then I'll rather choose a rude vulgar teacher who knows his stuff than a mil…

Yes, it is a common misconception nowadays that there is a causal link between language and society. For example, in languages such as Spanish and German, feminists are seeking to introduce gender-neutral words in an attempt to facilitate equality. However, this is not the correct way around – language is shaped by society, with gender roles and stereotypes influencing the language rather than the other way round. Therefore, making changes to language is not only ineffective but rather counterproductive.

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#825

I believe it is wrong to make people feel bad about themselves with insensitive or culturally offensive language but with every article I see like this I become less and less interested in thinking about what I say. Also why do all articles like this have the same art style? How do people get paid to make these kind of articles and how much do they get paid?

The art style is called "corporate memphis", and it's usually an excellent predictor of empty platitudes and useless bullshit whenever you encounter it.

Thank you, I hate this.

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#826

Oh wow there was "latinx" there. People from Latin America take a lot of umbrage at having this little exonym pushed on us, believe me. It feels like colonialism. The term "Hispanic" is already very broad to refer to people from a large collection of polities with several cultural spheres in it, but at least the concept of "hispanoamérica" exists in it, and the word isn't a novel take on the Spanish language coming f…

You speak for all latin americans?

Do the American "lantinx" and their "allies" at fancy Universities do?

Re: Stanford's “Elimination of Harmful Language” Initiative

#830

It's pretty remarkable that this conflates: - Well-known slurs like "Jewed" - Outdated, now-offensive terms like "hermaphrodite" - Touchy metaphorical language like "slave replica" - Gendered terms that if you're being assiduous you probably want to avoid, like "manpower" - Words that have long since lost any stigmatizing meaning by virtue of the original use being so ancient ("lame", "dumb", "stupid") - Words that,…

> Indian summer | late summer | This term infers that Indigenous people are chronically late. While it may be innocently used to describe a beautiful time of year, it could have an unintended negative impact on those who hear it. This one was surprising to me. I always assumed Indian summer was about summer in India lasting longer. Apparently it really is about an American phenomenon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I…

The Dutch term for Indian Summer is "Old wives summer". Referring to old wives knitting clothes at that time of the year in preparation for winter, in correlation to another phenomenon in late summer: an explosion of spiders making cobwebs.

Ableist, sexist, biologal-essentialism, so many red flags. Wait, red is a cultural appropriation as its differently used in different cultures.

Anyway, Indian Summer referring to people being late is completely made-up.

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