Sorry to be posting this so late. When I don't get to this on time, feel free to post your own prompts. I love it when students take the initiative with their writing. And don't forget this is YOUR space!
This week we're getting into a discussion of language, identity, and power.
I'll just start this off with a question for you to answer:
What is a word that you have heard that has offended, hurt, or angered you, personally, what were the circumstances, and why did it have such effect on you? Be specific.
Don't forget to respond to each other.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
24 comments:
I have to say that I'm offended every time someone calls me Chinese or Japanese (no offense to the Chinese or Japanese). Apparently if you're Asian, you must be one of those. It gets annoying every time I go somewhere and people say, "Ohayo Gozaimasu." Then I just tell them, "Screw you, I'm Korean." Oh, and I guess chink is pretty bad too, but haven't heard anyone say that in years.
Another thing I'm offended at is when people bash me for being a Christian. Words they use are "Jesus-worshipper"(it's true, but I don't like there tone) and "Believing in a false god."I don't even try to convert people or push my beliefs on others. If you're atheist or some other religion, that's cool, if that's what you are, I'm not going to try and change that. I pick my friends by how they act, not by who they worship.
I have a word that piss me off when this word is directed towards me-"GOOK." The first time I have ever heard this word, I had no clue what the word meant. I was twenty years old and I went out on a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean and through the Mediterranean Sea. One day out of the blue, one of my fellow workers called me a "GOOK" because we were playing a video game and I had won. This incident of me winning happened a lot, and I guess he got fed up. Started calling me "CHINK & GOOK" so I called him a "SPIK." No harm, no foul... just all in fun. Another week or so passes and a person I did not respect as a professional at work calls me a "GOOK." I still had no idea of what "GOOK" meant. So I asked around and I'd figured it out. I then run up to the person that had insulted me and started to push and shove. The result was, I end up on my back with him in a headlock w/ my legs wrapped around his waist-"THE GUILLOTINE CHOKE." My boss and other higher ranking officials come over and broke it up. I guess what got to me was him calling me a gook for no apparently reason than just to call me gook to get my attention.
I feel that it is okay to call each others names when EVERYONE around doesn't get offended. It is all in fun for certain occasions, but to call someone chiky for example for no apparently reason, is totally uncalled for. Don't get me wrong, I'll be the first to make fun of my own race and culture.
I just read Andrew's post, and I can see where your coming from with people hatin' on you because you are religious. I for one AM definitely NOT religious at all, BUT I do have a Korean friend that goes to church and worships your God. I make fun him! ...not a little bit, but a lot. Only because he goes to Church to play in a basketball league, softball league, and to go snowboarding. He doesn't care about Church. It's good that you go to your Church for the right reasons and not like my friend.
~Drown pUPPIES!
Rofl, nice. Yeah, but i see where vic is coming. When you say something for fun a couple time with your friends, it's cool, but if some random guy comes up to you seriously and says, "Hey chink, why don't you do some karate?," that's when you should go and kick ass.
I hate it when people say the phrase "that's so Asian" or "looks so Asian." I guess it bothers me because it kind of gives off a negative vibe,like its bad to have any Asians resemblance.I remember seeing a picture of a beautiful Asian friend of mines and some of my peers would say "Oh she has hella ASIAN EYES." It didn't really sink in until they pointed it out to me the difference between the "eyes" of our culture.Every time it is mentioned it seemed like it was a bad thing to look "too Asian." I actually feel offended or at least feel disgraced that my peers (of Asian background) can say things that reflect upon our culture as a whole.It feels like they aren't accepting the fact that being Asian is beautiful and okay to look different. It makes me sad actually to know that people of my own culture clash upon each other for looking the part. I guess it has to do with some media influences on the Asian culture.
I also can relate to Andrew.When people always think just because I'm Asian...I'm of all Asian ethnicities... i just had an incident the other day that has happened..
I was at a shop and some lady came up to me to ask me a question. She had a fur jacket in her hand with one of those washing labels that are embedded into the jacket. So she came up to me asking what that label read. It was in Japanese and I am Chinese. So i told her I'm sorry i don't know how to read it because it was in Japanese.Then she gave me the saddest most disappointed face ever...like wtf?! iono Then she proceeded to ask me if i knew what language it was and i told her.She then said that she now must go find a Japanese person to translate this.
In the back of my mind i don't think she could really find a Japanese person..because I'm pretty sure she didn't even know if i was Chinese,Japanese,or Korean.So yah at the moment i didn't know what to feel. Should i have felt angry?should i wear a label next time i shop?
then i started to feel remorseful like it was my fault that people don't know that i'm chinese..
p.s Of course i get offended to the word Chink...but yea i don't hear people say that much of it no more...
I have to think about this one LOL...words don't bother me...they go out one ear to the other...I don't care what people think or say because in the long run I won't ever see nor talk to them and be more successful...but if I think of a word I'll let ya nerds know haha...:-)
Submited Via-IPhone
The word that has hurt me the most would have to be the word "fat" especially when it comes from my own family. My brother has always used that word to make fun of me and knows that it really hurts me. He knows it also makes me cry and hate myself. He uses it to make fun of me or when I won't let him use something that belongs to me.
The part that hurts the most is that it's coming from someone in my own family. I always family was supposed to be there for you no matter what you look like or views you have. Sometimes it comes from my own parents and that really hurts.
To me the word "fat" means something totally different than what it means to my parents. To them it means over their weight, but to me it means someone that is like 400+ lbs who can't walk. It sucks that not everyone can agree on a meaning because a lot of people get hurt.
I can't think of one word in particular that i am offended by. I get "dumb blonde" and cheerleader jokes a lot, but most of the time I don't take offense to them. Most of the time i can take them with a grain of slat, but there are also those times were they get super annoying! At times it can be hurtful. Like if i am already having a really bad day and someone comes at me with a blonde joke, I will snap back and probably say something equally offensive. Which doesn't help the situation but people tend to think I am kidding when I say I don't like the blonde jokes, the cheerleader remarks, etc. so the only way I know how to handle them, is to be nasty right back!
One word that has really offended me in the past is being called anorexic. My sister used to call me anorexic all the time because I'm rather skinny. I would feel really angry when she called me that because being skinny shouldnt be a reason to be put down.
My sister isn't exacly skinny herself and i think it made her feel jealous that her body wasn't how she wanted it to be?
I never called her fat or any other type of offensive word that would bring her down because I didn't want to stoop down to her level.
I think it's wrong to put people down with names. I think that even though some people act tough and act like they dont care if they're called a bad name because they try to ignore it. The truth is that it hurts being called a bad name. When my sister would call me anorexic, at times I would start feeling like maybe i did appear anoxeric.
I would hate my sister when she called me anorexic because I knew she called me that just to make herself feel better about her body.
I totally agree with what M&M said also because it does hurt when a family member puts you down.
I'd have to agree with Louie and say that words don't bother me. I was called a bunch of names like "cracker" in elementary school. I was one of four white kids in my class for the nine years I was there, so I got a lot of crap. I really could care less because I don't talk to any of them anymore. When I graduated, I gave them a piece of their own medicine and went on with my life. I still see some of my old classmates, but I won't give them the time of day to talk to me again. Whatever is said about me doesn't bother me because I have my close friends, and I don't care about anyone else.
I love to see when people agree with me. It makes me the master of my very own knowledge. That's right! That is how Scott and I roll. Who wants to join our Entourage? You can say crap, but you'll turn into a vegetable first while we are flipping through the bills in our finger tips.
Something that kind of bothers me is the misuse of the word mexican. There are alot of people who label every brown person they see as mexican. Also when people say " Oh you speak Mexican?" it's just so arrogant.
A word i find to soo ofensive to myself and women is the word bitch. I absolutly hate this word and especially when said by men. This word is offensive, demeaning, and just an aweful word. Some men and even women refer to a woman as a bitch because she stands up for herself or expresses herself. People many times use words to hurt others or bring them down. As a woman and being called this before makes me feel soo angry and especially when a woman calls another woman a bitch. Its like look at yourself you are a woman and as women we should only empower ourrselves and help each other not bring each other down with demeaning words. If men see woman calling each other bitch then men think its okay to say it as well. Now im generalizing here and i know that not all men are this way, but i know everyone has said this word at least once.
I feel similar to Fiona on this.Id have to say the term "white washed", never really made much sense to me and has always been offending. First of all, that creates an image of white people being this generic people that are all the same. I guess someone with style and individuality is less white? Come on now. Plus the fact that it is almost never used in a positive way implies that resembling a white person, whatever that means, is a bad thing.
I have never been one to let words get to me, but I find it odd that the very diverse heritage of white people seems to get lost. I’ve never heard of a white person being called "ethnic" and it seems though we may know the history of our families, they don’t influence us traditionally.
Also the fact that on standardized testing and scholarship applications they will list fifteen different ethnicities and there is only one box for me to pick "White" rather than Norwegian, German, and Irish. I feel like if there going to take the time to ask the question then they should give me the space to show my heritage too.
I can think back to being young, when kids say mean things. Yes, it did bother me but now that i am older i tend not to let other peoples words bother me. i am very sensitive and i would cry at the drop of a dime. My grandma use to tell me the old saying
" Sticks and stones will hurt my bones but words will nver hurt me." i have really come to believe it.. But there really is one thing that does bug me sometimes. " She is a girl" When people think i can not do things because i am female, or it is a man thing to do.i think not. I get it a lot from my boyfreind as a joke, " oh dont worry, your a girl" I am just as strong as a guy and i can do whatever else a guy can do. I am just as smart, and i can play sports. Do not make me feel less of a person, because i am a female.
I find it very disrespectful and offensive when people call others "F.O.B.'s." I've had an experience where some guy called my aunt a "F.O.B." for having a tagalog accent. I find it disrespectful because they do not know my aunt's history or background, and even if they did they should not be criticizing someone because of their accents or lack of proper grammar.
"I am not perfect and I do not live to be. But before you point your fingers, make sure your hands are clean." -Bob Marley.
No one is perfect. There are times where people make fun of me for pronouncing something wrong but I do not let them hold me back because i know that they have made mistakes also.
Ive never really been called anything racial except for "whiteboy" jokingly, but i aint trippin cause things like that dont really bother me unless it was in a really hateful way but im usually a really laid back person so i dont let a lot of things bother me so thats whats up. the only time it does bother me is when someone says it about someone they know nothing about. and i just think its ignorance
The word that pops in my head first is "skinhead".I have been shaving my head since I was 15. But repeatedly throughout the years I have been asked if I was one, or accused of being one. I just happened to have a round head that looks good shaved. And my girlfriend like it too so that dont hurt.
I guess a word that would really bother me would really bother me would be spic or spec. However they say it, i guess. I dont know, i mean maybe alot of people dont hear it but beleive me its said alot. I hear alot of white people saying it about Latinos and im guessing it cant be very good. Its said around me i guess because most of the time they dont realize that im half Columbian because well lets face it i pretty much look straight Cicilian, yes thats right Cicilian not Italian. =) But the main point is that in the first place people shouldnt be saying things like that and in second place know who your around.
I hate when a person tells to another person "go back to your country" just because they don't know how to speak that well english. They don't know the reason why they came to this country or there situations.
Post a Comment