the racists, homophobes etc. use exactly the same arguments to justify their own view of the world/language and to some extent their use by those 'on the side of the side of the angels' can give the arguments a kind of legitimacy. - I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "the same arguments" - those provided by the comm mods, e.g. "we're just using what's already out there, everything offends someone, freedom of speech, it's your choice to read/listen or not"?
As far as the word "miscegenation" goes, I freely admit having not known what it meant. I actually had to go and check it out online, so I have an idea now, though still haven't found a working Finnish translation that would convey all of the meanings. So to me that word is very value-free, and I would not have blinked at it twice without the knowledge of its history.
This raises some interesting questions about language, which both reflects and shapes the society. It is undeniably, though often perhaps uncosnciously, used to create reality, a view of the world. I'm more familiar with these issues in relation to gender rather than race/ethnicity, but I rather think the same rules apply. I only need to look at examples from my own reading/research to see how the authorities' use of language creates moral panic or how the police subculture is maintained through so-called canteen language, that changes very little no matter how much equal opportunities training is provided.
There is also the argument about "language as a weapon" which refers to the deliberate attempts manipulate people's views on certain groups and nations. There was a lot about that in relation to the language used by Bush administration during the Iraq war and the whole "war against terror" thing.
I too thought the whole mud-blood thread in HP books was a rather clever dig at the society's stereotypes. How would you define then what the mods in this community were trying to do? Is the word interracial value free? In RL I would understand that as "between people of different race/ethnicity", emphasis on people. However, in a fantasy world the definitons of race and species get very muddled though. Are fairies a different race or an entirely different species? How about werewolves? Technically they are human most of the month...
no subject
As far as the word "miscegenation" goes, I freely admit having not known what it meant. I actually had to go and check it out online, so I have an idea now, though still haven't found a working Finnish translation that would convey all of the meanings. So to me that word is very value-free, and I would not have blinked at it twice without the knowledge of its history.
This raises some interesting questions about language, which both reflects and shapes the society. It is undeniably, though often perhaps uncosnciously, used to create reality, a view of the world. I'm more familiar with these issues in relation to gender rather than race/ethnicity, but I rather think the same rules apply. I only need to look at examples from my own reading/research to see how the authorities' use of language creates moral panic or how the police subculture is maintained through so-called canteen language, that changes very little no matter how much equal opportunities training is provided.
There is also the argument about "language as a weapon" which refers to the deliberate attempts manipulate people's views on certain groups and nations. There was a lot about that in relation to the language used by Bush administration during the Iraq war and the whole "war against terror" thing.
I too thought the whole mud-blood thread in HP books was a rather clever dig at the society's stereotypes. How would you define then what the mods in this community were trying to do? Is the word interracial value free? In RL I would understand that as "between people of different race/ethnicity", emphasis on people. However, in a fantasy world the definitons of race and species get very muddled though. Are fairies a different race or an entirely different species? How about werewolves? Technically they are human most of the month...