SEXIST and RACIST

[AZBlue]

OK, you can pretty much blame this on my dad - he was an English teacher, so from the time I can remember I've heard him rant and rave about the misuse of the English language in this country. And, I grew up with the same attitude toward it - I cringe when I see poor grammar, bad punctuation, misspellings and so on. (yes, I love the book "Shoots, Eats and Leaves)

It's a pet peeve of mine and usually I keep quiet about it on DU - but for the love of all things good, please stop misusing the words "sexist" and "racist."


From dictionary.com:

sex·ism
(sěk'sĭz'əm)
noun
1) Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women.
2) Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping of social roles based on gender.

rac·ism
(rey-siz-uhm)
noun
1) a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
2) a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.
3) hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

(the bolding is mine)


Has there been racism and sexism here and in the media during this campaign? Of course. But, I'd venture, at least on DU, over 50% of the time those terms are being misused. Maybe you don't agree with a comment because it's rude, it's wrong, it's mean, it's hypocritical, it's absurd, it's fantasy, it's not supportive of your candidate...there are hundreds of other labels to use when responding to a comment, let's not just call it sexist or racist if that's not what it is! Those are not the cool terms du jour - let's not overuse them or we'll become immune to them.

OK, I'm off my soap box now. Thank you for listening and please kick or post if you agree. :hi:

:rant:

[lumberjack_jeff]

1. I'd be happy if people would stop conflating "sexism" and "misogyny". n/t

[AZBlue]

2. Baby steps, baby steps...

;)

[verges]

3. Only because of the subject

"- I cringe when
I see I see
poor grammar, bad"
I know it's a typo, but still...

And you may want to double check the title of the book. ;)

[AZBlue]

4. I also have a bad habit of going back and re-writing everything I write 6 times

so I wind up with extra phrases! And I knew, KNEW, that I would make a mistake in this post - I mean, Murphy's Law would dictate it, right? Thanks for catching them both - the book is actually Eats, Shoots and Leaves but I'm leaving as I wrote it - I can't cheat and change that too!
(for some reason basketball was on my mind when I wrote the OP - can you tell?!)

:D