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Brainstorming: Should we be offended?

Sat, 06/21/2008 - 13:31
So my yahoo news feed sent me this. http://social.moldova.org/stiri/eng/128767/ As I was reading it I was thinking how absurd it was. Heck, half of the words we use can be seen as offensive if we were to break them down all entymologically and historically and on and on. I think the bigger issue is ignorance towards what epilepsy is. Outlawing the usage of the word "brainstorming" or another other word like it is not going to educate anyone, if anything it makes me feel like that sort of thing just adds more of a stigma and thus makes us more vulnearable. I see it as just another well-meaning, but wayward, example of institutional action that amounts to not doing anything at all except avoiding measures that might actually be helpful. In this case the measure was declared as extreme and unnessary, as it was, but I think this happens elsewhere as well. If people are ignorant they can still be very mean while trying to be very politically correct in their language. (Like my martial arts instructer who was careful not to address the class as "you guys" since I was (the lone) female but did not allow me to spar when I reached level because "women need to learn pragmatic things, like escape tactics.") What does everyone else think about this? Having epilepsy, are there things people say that offend you? (I don't mean like directly insulting you.)

Comments

Re: Brainstorming: Should we be offended?

Submitted by watchingirl on Sat, 2008-07-05 - 23:45
This is funny. I'm just reading a book called "Warriors Don't Cry" about the integration of of Little Rock High School in the 1950s. It's written by one of the black students as an adult & she remembers how the school banned the singing of "White Christmas" because they thought it would be offensive to the 9 black kids. She talks about how ridiculous it was & how stupid the administrators must have thought the students were to not understand the words. I think we can all grasp the meaning of "brainstorm".

Re: Brainstorming: Should we be offended?

Submitted by no alleykat on Tue, 2008-07-08 - 12:09

WHY? DO YOU WANT TO BE?

WHY? DO YOU WANT TO BE?

Re: Brainstorming: Should we be offended?

Submitted by RGbrainstorm on Sun, 2008-08-10 - 14:58

As you can see from my profile name, I am certainly not offended.  I've used "brainstorm" as a screen name or online identity for years.  I think some people in this world are looking for things to be offended by.

Once in a while, someone who doesn' t know I have epilepsy will make a comment about an "epileptic fit" or describe someone they saw having a seizure as really "freaky."  Like, "you should have seen it, what a freak," etc. etc.  And yeah, it can hurt my feelings.  People can be ignorant about so many things, but you can't expect everyone to be educated about everything.  I'm sure we've all made off-handed comments now and then that could offend someone for some reason.  I just don't let it effect my self-image.

BTW, the comment below about "Would you like to try our new shake?" had me in stiches.  Oh no, I hope I didn't offend anyone with stiches from surgery just now!

Has anyone seen that episode of The Simpsons where they go to Japan and watch the show "Battling Seizure Robots"?  Hillarious! 

As you can see from my profile name, I am certainly not offended.  I've used "brainstorm" as a screen name or online identity for years.  I think some people in this world are looking for things to be offended by.

Once in a while, someone who doesn' t know I have epilepsy will make a comment about an "epileptic fit" or describe someone they saw having a seizure as really "freaky."  Like, "you should have seen it, what a freak," etc. etc.  And yeah, it can hurt my feelings.  People can be ignorant about so many things, but you can't expect everyone to be educated about everything.  I'm sure we've all made off-handed comments now and then that could offend someone for some reason.  I just don't let it effect my self-image.

BTW, the comment below about "Would you like to try our new shake?" had me in stiches.  Oh no, I hope I didn't offend anyone with stiches from surgery just now!

Has anyone seen that episode of The Simpsons where they go to Japan and watch the show "Battling Seizure Robots"?  Hillarious! 

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