kirkbright wrote:
So, even when given the evidence by a Brit that's been in Australia for over 35 years, and being told in no uncertain terms that the expression is offensive to people of that heritage/origin, and the fact that it is listed on the Racial Slur Database . . . and that it is an extremely sensitive issue, a word that is used as an insult . . . here's someone defending it's use.
Mate just because some person decides it's offensive & sticks it on a database doesn't mean we all have to agree with him. When I worked at the education department, before a parent teacher day, a principal added the word "parent" to a database because the word is sexist & told the staff to instead call them "care givers".
Another example is a case of sexism. An EO opportunity officer once added a man holding a door open for a woman coming after him is sexist because it suggests she is incapable of opening a the door herself.
It's these political correct do-gooders who have lost all objectivity who tried to have Humphrey B Bear taken off the air because he doesn't wear pants.
You have to have a clear idea yourself & not be dictated to by some person. Like I said, just about all my relatives are British & use the word Pom more than I do. I seont three months in the UK & heard the word used more then than any other time in my life. So do I (an Australian) accuse them of being racist? Is it my decision to deem what just offensive to them, someone with a database or is it the English themselves?
Sure people could use the word Pom in a derogatory way if they so wanted, just like anything other word. I've even heard the word Brit used in an unflattering context.
kirkbright wrote:
Let's try this . . . if your name is Michael but you hate being referred to as Mick . . . would you defend the use of the name you detest?
No, but that doesn't mean I'd consider it to be a derogatory or offensive term. I prefer being called an Australian than an Aussie but I don't feel racially abused when people call me an Aussie.
The reason I prefer to be called an Australian is because to me, being called an Aussie by Americans & Brits seems to have that stigma of that friendly, good natured but not terribly bright downunder folk who spend all day in their corked hats drinking Foster, have barbecues, playing cricket & singing songs about jumbucks & beaut sheilas. But that's just my opinion of the connotation that comes with the word & I can't consider my personal believe to be the standard when I know that is not how the majority of Australians feel.
However, someone preferring to be called by their proper name is a personal choice thing &, therefore, has no relevance to the racism issue anyway. That's just trying to cloud the issue. Racism is not about one's personal or individual choice, quite the contrary, which is why this serves as a poor comparison.
kirkbright wrote:
It's a bit like junk mail. If you put a sign on your letterbox that you don't want junk mail or advertising material . . . nobody has the right to force it upon you.
Do you get it yet?
No, it's nothing like that. Racism & junk mail have nothing in common. This is what I meant about people clouding the issue with irrelevant paradigms. Racism has about as much in common to received unwanted junkmail as sexism has to trespassing.
If you check out your etymological history you'll see that the word Pom was never devised as a derogatory term. That's how it differs from racial slurs like towel-head, gook, boong, etc. Therefore the word "Pom" is not an offensive word. Australia has a very British country when the current definition of the word became widely used. Can you honestly not see the difference?
Pom was not intended to be an offensive word but we decide to blacklist it as an offensive word just because a minority of idiots then they win. If we officially redefine the word as an insult then, congratulations, we've just given the racist bogans another exclusively taboo insult word to use.
PS: At least my reply was a lot more polite than yours. Please curbed the attitude. Thanks.
kirkbright wrote:
. . . as my Mom used to say
PPS: My Pommy mum wanted me to tell you that she finds the term "mom" offensive.