Forwarded: Names, Flames & Getting It

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> ref: Post by Denise O'Brien on Dec 31


>But the hooha that has ensued means that a lot of you guys (which to
>me is a genderless term) ...
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Guys originally meant fellow- male gender. Guys and dolls- males
and females. Now a lot of people can use the word "guys" as a
"genderless term". So it is with certain other words, if we
chose.


>Second, as someone
>has already suggested but without any graphic examples, suppose Bjorn had
>used /nigger/ to refer to all African-Americans? Would anyone have
>defended his language as neutral or as not meant to be offensive?
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You're right about this. However, even the exalted Mike Lieber
used a derivitive of "nigger" by his use of "denigration" as I
pointed out. This did not result in accusations of racism. It's
intent that counts- and should continue to be the most important
consideration.

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