Thread Closed
Hm, well, I disagree with your approach.
I don't like things that are stated in absolutes. I have gotten into rows with people (strangers, mostly) over the word gypsy. Because I believe in promoting positivity over restrictedness; the groups that are trying to encourage learning and acceptance (word reclamation is a thing!) over telling someone how they should and shouldn't act are what I prefer to go to.
Two, I don't like it when someone speaks for an entire group without being a representative (for clarification: representing a social or political group under a set name -- as in, people who have agreed that you speak for them). Yeah, there are people who believe certain words shouldn't be used -- but there are also people who don't believe that. To present your case as if this is what all "sex workers" believe or want is a little bit disingenuous to me.
http://hazlitt.net/feature/word-prostitute
http://thebillfold.com/2012/08/in-conver...rostitute/
It's the same thing as when someone tells me not to use the word 'gypsy,' not even when I'm not referring to the Roma (or any of the cultural groups who spread out from India) and using it in fantasy as a shorthand for a specific kind of traveling culture who are distrusted by settled folk -- I'm with the people who are trying to reclaim that word, who want to spread its use as something positive.
The thing with words is that sometimes the meanings aren't set in stone. And, honestly, I feel like if I start dismissing the word 'prostitute' like it's something dirty and unclean, I'm doing a disservice to the men and women I read on places like fetlife who talk openly, unabashedly, proudly, and shame-free about their work all the while answering questions frankly and honestly.
And who own themselves and the words they use for their trade.
That said, if someone asks me to not use a word for them, specifically, because it negatively affects them personally, then yeah, I won't.
But you're going to need a better argument to get me to agree that my use of language is harmful. I'm not ashamed of my sex life or sexual proclivities, and I'm not ashamed of yours, either.
I don't like things that are stated in absolutes. I have gotten into rows with people (strangers, mostly) over the word gypsy. Because I believe in promoting positivity over restrictedness; the groups that are trying to encourage learning and acceptance (word reclamation is a thing!) over telling someone how they should and shouldn't act are what I prefer to go to.
Two, I don't like it when someone speaks for an entire group without being a representative (for clarification: representing a social or political group under a set name -- as in, people who have agreed that you speak for them). Yeah, there are people who believe certain words shouldn't be used -- but there are also people who don't believe that. To present your case as if this is what all "sex workers" believe or want is a little bit disingenuous to me.
http://hazlitt.net/feature/word-prostitute
http://thebillfold.com/2012/08/in-conver...rostitute/
It's the same thing as when someone tells me not to use the word 'gypsy,' not even when I'm not referring to the Roma (or any of the cultural groups who spread out from India) and using it in fantasy as a shorthand for a specific kind of traveling culture who are distrusted by settled folk -- I'm with the people who are trying to reclaim that word, who want to spread its use as something positive.
The thing with words is that sometimes the meanings aren't set in stone. And, honestly, I feel like if I start dismissing the word 'prostitute' like it's something dirty and unclean, I'm doing a disservice to the men and women I read on places like fetlife who talk openly, unabashedly, proudly, and shame-free about their work all the while answering questions frankly and honestly.
And who own themselves and the words they use for their trade.
That said, if someone asks me to not use a word for them, specifically, because it negatively affects them personally, then yeah, I won't.
But you're going to need a better argument to get me to agree that my use of language is harmful. I'm not ashamed of my sex life or sexual proclivities, and I'm not ashamed of yours, either.