fluffyllama (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fluffyllama) wrote2013-01-09 12:35 pm
fluffyllama) wrote2013-01-09 12:35 pm
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Is this a cultural thing too?
I'd never heard of 'potato' being used as an offensive word until very recently (see here if you haven't either), so I've no idea how widespread it is either online or anywhere else. Is this a common insult in the US or elsewhere?
The reason I ask is because the same fandom (Teen Wolf, shock) that's quick to jump on its use is the same one where every other fic (this is not an exaggeration) uses 'spaz' or 'spastic' to describe one of the characters. When I first saw it I did some hunting around and saw lots of people claiming 'spaz' is not an offensive word in the US like it is in the UK (seriously, we've been trying to wipe it out for decades), so I try to grit my teeth, but it has to be a really good story to make me continue reading past one of these words, and if I spot a second use I'm out of there. It may be a good thing for my continued enjoyment that I tend to just skim chunks of less than fantastic dialogue, where some of these words may be lurking.
These words were the insult of choice on the playground when I was growing up, and I'm sure I used them myself sometimes because I have two younger brothers. You don't hold back much when they get annoying. Then in my second year at high school we had two girls start in the year below me with cerebral palsy, which is what 'spastic' officially referred to. This was a school you had to pass an exam to get into, by the way, there were no free passes for anyone with a disability. There was nothing stupid about these girls.
One of them had such a hard time with the other girls tormenting her that she moved schools part way through her first year, if I remember correctly after all this time. I only heard that after she left, and I don't know how reliable the info was, but it was the first time I was aware of that level of bullying directed at a single individual. The other girl had more physical problems, both with walking and coordination, and also a lot of difficulty speaking clearly, so I've no doubt she had an even worse time of it. There wasn't any real social mixing between years in school, but she became a good friend of mine later on at college as I went to Art college first so we ended up on some of the same courses. It was probably taking double sets of notes (with carbon paper, when did I last see that, heh) that meant I had good notes and good attendance in lectures we shared, so she did me more favours than I ever did her!
I haven't seen her for a while as I don't get out and about much, but her chosen career involves dealing all day with members of the public. Since we've spent decades trying to get rid of the words, I doubt she hears words like 'spaz' these days in real life, though if there's one thing you can rely on it's for people to be insensitive so I'm sure it's extremely trying. I guarantee she would never, ever complain about the way people treat her, so I doubt anyone even knows. She does, however, spend a lot of time on the internet, so I really, really hope she's not reading Teen Wolf fics. Sigh.
In other news, the puppy has come into season for the first time today, so no puppy school for a few weeks. Awww, she's getting all big now *sniff* (8 months old!) I need to note this down as I always lose my diary / scrap of paper where I write down the dates and it's important info to keep.
The reason I ask is because the same fandom (Teen Wolf, shock) that's quick to jump on its use is the same one where every other fic (this is not an exaggeration) uses 'spaz' or 'spastic' to describe one of the characters. When I first saw it I did some hunting around and saw lots of people claiming 'spaz' is not an offensive word in the US like it is in the UK (seriously, we've been trying to wipe it out for decades), so I try to grit my teeth, but it has to be a really good story to make me continue reading past one of these words, and if I spot a second use I'm out of there. It may be a good thing for my continued enjoyment that I tend to just skim chunks of less than fantastic dialogue, where some of these words may be lurking.
These words were the insult of choice on the playground when I was growing up, and I'm sure I used them myself sometimes because I have two younger brothers. You don't hold back much when they get annoying. Then in my second year at high school we had two girls start in the year below me with cerebral palsy, which is what 'spastic' officially referred to. This was a school you had to pass an exam to get into, by the way, there were no free passes for anyone with a disability. There was nothing stupid about these girls.
One of them had such a hard time with the other girls tormenting her that she moved schools part way through her first year, if I remember correctly after all this time. I only heard that after she left, and I don't know how reliable the info was, but it was the first time I was aware of that level of bullying directed at a single individual. The other girl had more physical problems, both with walking and coordination, and also a lot of difficulty speaking clearly, so I've no doubt she had an even worse time of it. There wasn't any real social mixing between years in school, but she became a good friend of mine later on at college as I went to Art college first so we ended up on some of the same courses. It was probably taking double sets of notes (with carbon paper, when did I last see that, heh) that meant I had good notes and good attendance in lectures we shared, so she did me more favours than I ever did her!
I haven't seen her for a while as I don't get out and about much, but her chosen career involves dealing all day with members of the public. Since we've spent decades trying to get rid of the words, I doubt she hears words like 'spaz' these days in real life, though if there's one thing you can rely on it's for people to be insensitive so I'm sure it's extremely trying. I guarantee she would never, ever complain about the way people treat her, so I doubt anyone even knows. She does, however, spend a lot of time on the internet, so I really, really hope she's not reading Teen Wolf fics. Sigh.
In other news, the puppy has come into season for the first time today, so no puppy school for a few weeks. Awww, she's getting all big now *sniff* (8 months old!) I need to note this down as I always lose my diary / scrap of paper where I write down the dates and it's important info to keep.
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And wow, yes, I'm surprised nobody had mentioned it if it had been up for months, and that's quite an obviously inappropriate term for someone like that to use. Though it can be difficult to say so because authors don't always respond well to negative comments, of course. I have difficulty handling confrontation to the point that I get panic attacks in RL around raised voices (even if the anger isn't directed at me) so I think I'll work out something calmly phrased in advance that I can cut and paste to the end of my comments on fics when I see these words in future.
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That's a good idea to save it for contacting authors directly, and to take lots of time to get it right. I can't see a way to send a private message on AO3 though, so I see a lot of journal hunting in my future!