Why it's Offensive / Is it Offensive

[aishah]

Originally Posted by Corkey

All of them. What is offensive to you may not be offensive to another, and visa versa. If someone tells me it's offensive, I tend to believe them, because I don't presume to know what offense is going trigger someone.

all of this, too...different people are going to be offended by different things. i think it's important to not use language that upholds or perpetuates oppression generally speaking, but different people will have different reactions to different kinds of language. like, i think it's inappropriate to use the word "slut" casually because i believe it perpetuates oppression against women but one woman may not be offended by that while another one might be. just because one woman doesn't get offended by it doesn't invalidate another woman's offense or the fact that it's been used to oppress people. if that makes any sense. (that's just general feelings i have on the issue of what is and isn't offensive.)