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alpharaposaWhen I was a teenager, my dad was the Conference Scouting Coordinator and head of the local NAUMS chapter and all sorts of things Scouting related. This was still a pretty new thing, so he was building groups and coalitions and having lots of meetings with folks. I came along on a lot of these, as I've always loved Scouting as well, and I found a role in the melee.
One thing was that, while the Boy Scouts were officially the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the Girl Scouts were not the Girl Scouts of America (GSA). They were the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA). Being a teenager, I found the distinction dumb, and I remarked on it to my dad.
He shrugged the question of how dumb it might be off. The important thing, he told me, is that this is all new to them, too. So, to show that we respect them and want to include them, it's important that we use the right name. We had a lot of Boy Scouts to whom BSA lingo was like breathing, but we needed to be able to show the Girl Scouts that we took them seriously and that they were important to us, too. So we had to learn and use the GSUSA lingo. To do otherwise would be rude, and would shut them out.
And we had to learn to speak Campfire Boys and Girls. And 4-H. Using the right names in the right places meant that they were welcome and important.
Now, I've twice in the past few months said something when somebody used the term 'antichoice', because those people are the sorts of people that I didn't think would want to be outright rude to others. I got nowhere in both conversations.
So, maybe this will explain. In this big social battle that goes on, using the preferred words and lingo used by the other side is like waving a flag of parley. It shows that you are interested in putting aside the fighting for a bit to discuss why we're here and what we expect to get out of this. We might not get anywhere in the discussion, but we can have it.
Using insider terms is like closing your visor and picking up your shield. Using an inflammatory term that is also used by trolls in internet fora is like picking up a sword. Both of these actions signal that you're not really interested in discussion, at least not with me.
And in that case, I'm don't want to fight in Livejournal or Twitter or Facebook or other such places. If fighting is what you want, I'll meet you at the voting booth and we can see which side prevails there.
And please don't make the mistake of thinking that because you don't mean it too horribly, it isn't rude. Imagine telling a room full of gay men that you only use 'fag' to refer to the really flamboyant gay men, and you don't mean the rest of them. You probably won't get a very good reaction from most of the room.
If you don't care about my opinions, that's fine, but be aware of the signals you send by the words you choose.
One thing was that, while the Boy Scouts were officially the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), the Girl Scouts were not the Girl Scouts of America (GSA). They were the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA). Being a teenager, I found the distinction dumb, and I remarked on it to my dad.
He shrugged the question of how dumb it might be off. The important thing, he told me, is that this is all new to them, too. So, to show that we respect them and want to include them, it's important that we use the right name. We had a lot of Boy Scouts to whom BSA lingo was like breathing, but we needed to be able to show the Girl Scouts that we took them seriously and that they were important to us, too. So we had to learn and use the GSUSA lingo. To do otherwise would be rude, and would shut them out.
And we had to learn to speak Campfire Boys and Girls. And 4-H. Using the right names in the right places meant that they were welcome and important.
Now, I've twice in the past few months said something when somebody used the term 'antichoice', because those people are the sorts of people that I didn't think would want to be outright rude to others. I got nowhere in both conversations.
So, maybe this will explain. In this big social battle that goes on, using the preferred words and lingo used by the other side is like waving a flag of parley. It shows that you are interested in putting aside the fighting for a bit to discuss why we're here and what we expect to get out of this. We might not get anywhere in the discussion, but we can have it.
Using insider terms is like closing your visor and picking up your shield. Using an inflammatory term that is also used by trolls in internet fora is like picking up a sword. Both of these actions signal that you're not really interested in discussion, at least not with me.
And in that case, I'm don't want to fight in Livejournal or Twitter or Facebook or other such places. If fighting is what you want, I'll meet you at the voting booth and we can see which side prevails there.
And please don't make the mistake of thinking that because you don't mean it too horribly, it isn't rude. Imagine telling a room full of gay men that you only use 'fag' to refer to the really flamboyant gay men, and you don't mean the rest of them. You probably won't get a very good reaction from most of the room.
If you don't care about my opinions, that's fine, but be aware of the signals you send by the words you choose.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-28 07:42 am (UTC)Especially about providing girls with skills and knowledge and social support!!!
I strongly disagree, however, about being "on" birth control as a general preventive if you're not planning on sex, however. There's too many known short-term and long-term side-effects to the ones that you can be "on" all the time for me to think it's wise to put hormones or metal bits in your body just-in-case. But I don't insist any other woman must accept my beliefs as a rule that she should follow.
As to abstinence, I know I'm bucking popular belief here, but I'm not at all sure that abstinence is something the human animal is designed to do even though some people do it successfully--heck, a few people are asexual by choice, and never want or miss that part of life. But such a huge number of people do not successfully refrain from sex despite honestly believing abstinence or monogamy is the right thing to do and despite making vows and despite all the social support for it (and social shame for being "promiscuous" or "loose") that I'm starting to think most humans are genetically programmed to have sex, at a level that trumps logic and self-control. Still, it is a viable option for some people; I'm just not sure it's a viable option for all people.
On the other hand, I definitely agree that non-reproductive sex is an important option, although it is alternately ignored and actively denigrated in our society.
Perhaps I should amend that to non-reproductive sex could be an important option, if societal taboos and attitudes could be changed so it was seen as at least as good as the reproductive act. Current attitudes about non-reproductive methods of sex range from "that's icky" through "that's not as good/not real sex/doesn't count" to "that's much more immoral than reproductive sex".
no subject
Date: 2010-01-28 01:01 pm (UTC)IUDs are seriously under-promoted and under-utilized in the US. As a safe option for both hormonal and non-hormonal persistent "fire and forget" birth control, they are excellent and used everywhere throughout the world... except here. Their bad press in the US is strictly related to a single poorly-made product; modern IUDs don't deserve the reputation the Dalkon Shield gave them.
In any event, I don't see how we're disagreeing here. When the only option for women was to get married and have some guy's kids serially because she couldn't tell him 'no' when he wanted sex, then I can see how reaching for abortion, though a desperate move, seemed reasonable. In a society where women can remain single until they die without social repercussions, can have careers and lives without having to hook up with a man, and have multiple birth control options should they choose to have sex that specifically involves a man's penis in her vagina, I don't see how championing abortion has anything to do with a woman's right to choose.
Women have plenty of choices that don't involve killing a second person if they want to maintain their personal freedoms. To keep clawing at elective abortion as a "right" they require in order to be free of men makes us look like monsters... or worse, like adolescents who can't handle the freedoms we demanded society award us.
We want to be free of the tyranny of men, and to have sex whenever we want? Sure. Fine. Then let's start being serious about educating and empowering our daughters to make the right choices. But we must stop displacing the consequences of our poor choices onto innocent lives and justifying it in the name of social structures that no longer oppress us.