Quote:
Originally Posted by SGT RJ
I'm fairly certain that there can and should be a line drawn between trash talk and hate speech.
Saying stuff like, "Damn, I'm just owning you tonight, why don't you quit poker you suck!" is trash talk. If it gives you an edge, it seems kinda low to me but w/e, I wouldn't complain about it even if it was aimed at me.
Saying stuff like, "Damn, I hate ****ing f*****," or "****ing ****s like you should be taken out into the parking lot and raped", that's not trash talk. That's hate speech. See the difference?
Doubt we should get into an endless debate (what about if I say this? Is that just trash talk?) and everyone's line is probably going to be a little different, but there are specific words and phrases that cross the line, IMO, and should be "banned", if not legally than via societal condemnation.
Oh, but wait, it's just guys being guys? And you poor men don't have anywhere else you can do that anymore? No other arenas except those lonely bastions of male freedom, the poker room? Not every other male dominated career field and hobby and sporting event and every other place where mostly just men congregate?
My bad. Excuse us ladies for intruding on your one shining beacon of male freedom and independence.
Don't you think you're overreacting...just a little?
Look, it's 2011, and people have come a LONG way from the times when women couldn't vote, gays were kept in the closet, and Africans harvested tobacco. Now, hundreds of years later, whoever is still prejudice against homosexuals isn't going to have his mind changed by one outraged gay person.
Long story short, whoever still harbors these prejudices today, isn't going to be changed, ever. All we can hope for is that future generations will gradually become more and more tolerant. And I think that history has proven that that is the case.
In the meantime, the only way to stop that kind of thing from happening is to stand up to it. If someone is going to call you a ******, and you just sit there shaking, then you're just going to reinforce the prejudice person's behavior. His goal is to hurt you, put you on tilt, and intimidate you. Apparently, in this case, it worked.
Try standing up for yourself. Let him know that you won't stand for that, and that he's out of line. You dont' have to get nasty or even confrontational. And you'll probably find that the consensus at the table is in your corner.
Saying that there needs to be a line drawn, or that this kind of speech should be 'banned' either legally or socially, is simply a cop out. That's just putting your problems on the rest of the world so you can whine when things don't go your way.
If you want that line drawn, then draw it. Stand up for yourself and make sure your peers know exactly what will and will not be tolerated. You have an identity, and a voice, and it deserves respect. So use it.
But if you're going to crawl into your shell like a shivering wimp, then don't be surprised when people don't respect you.