Well, human long-term memory strikes again.
I'm posting this as a new post to make it more visible, because I don't want anyone to feel like I tried to bury my admission of a mistake. I recently watched the video of the panel discussion in question, and Blair does not address the question and poll the audience. He simply moves on, as I had originally remembered.
I was under the impression that the people I was talking to who gave me the information in my update below had watched the video. They had not; they were going by memory as well. Now that I've seen the video, I see that my initial recollection was correct.
Before anyone goes judging me or my friends for trying to twist the truth, I'd like to inform you that everything you remember about anything is wrong, too. Human memories become distorted with time. No matter how clearly you think you remember something, I assure you, some details have changed. This has been proven time and again; and that is why I was so ready to correct myself when presented with my friends' description of the events. Next time, I'll be sure to wait and watch the video myself before making any amendments.
I hope everyone who has read any postings regarding this incident will watch the video and judge for themselves. I feel like the video supports my point of view. Your mileage may vary.
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4 months ago
7 comments:
Your honesty is awesome. :)
-rion
If a word offends someone or elicits an emotional response, then it's more than mere "semantics".
The task is to find out why. Blanketing something with an opinion is diametrically opposed to "critical thinking".
The video doesn't play?
As a female atheist, I think calling women the weaker sex even as a joke, in this context was a very bad call.
I rarely speak as an atheist. I identify more with being a skeptic, but I have considered going along to the atheist meets.
I haven't seen the video nor was I at the meet but the attitude I've seen dealing with this issue does leave me very wary about going to an atheist meet.
Female/woman doesn't bother me, depending on what tone it was used in. Female can come across as cold, if it was enough to make a woman feel offended. It should really be thought about, not brushed aside.
Why was the video taken down?
Do you have a copy of this video? Because I would really like to see it myself. The video has been taken down, and all I can find are descriptions of the events in question.
And to be honest? The fact that you found that comment about the weaker sex to be a humorous way to keep the panel moving leads me to question your judgement on this one.
Here's why it was funny: Complaining that the term "female" is demeaning to women is sort of a dumb argument. But, on top of that, some feminists think the term "woman" is demeaning. Obviously, we're running out of words here. The moderator then made a wise crack by suggesting the term "weaker sex" be used. The joke went over with a bang. And, before the actual video was rather stupidly taken down, you could see that all the women in camera range cracked up and some even applauded.
Feminists are often regarded as humorless victimization mongers. This whole silly controversy shows why.
I don't think anyone is complaining that the word "female" is demeaning, simply that using it exclusively and in that context made it feel that way. Any word can be demeaning or offensive if used in certain ways by certain people and at certain times.
And for the record? It is not beyond some women to hold sexist attitudes. Approval by some of the women in the room does not disprove the validity the other woman's opinion.
If you think the appropriate response to being told that you are being offensive is to say something even more offensive than obviously our opinions of "humour" are very different indeed.
"I don't think anyone is complaining that the word 'female' is demeaning, simply that using it exclusively and in that context made it feel that way. Any word can be demeaning or offensive if used in certain ways by certain people and at certain times.
Wouldn't it be nice if you actually had some actual proof to show that it was actually demeaning in this case?
First off, you yourself allow that you haven't seen the video. Therefore, you have no basis for any of your assumptions.
Secondly, I did see the video. And I'm telling you that it wasn't "some" of the women who cracked up. It was a near-unanimous majority who found it funny.
Thirdly, aren't we being just a wee bit presumptuous in assuming that these women had "sexist attitudes"? How do you know that you're not being prejudiced here seeing as you're so anxious to assume sexism in others when you have no real basis for it?
I would suggest that the real problem here is that you simply fail to appreciate wit. Also, I would suggest that people who play victim but can't come up with a coherent reason for doing so are regarded as time wasters by your average audience and are, therefore inherently ripe targets for sarcasm. Promiscuously accusing others of sexism doesn't change that.
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