Apparently this is now in the top 100 for girls... and that's not even counting all the god-awful alternate spellings, listed as "Paislee, Paisleigh, Paisli, Paislie, Paisly, Payslee, Paysley, Paysli, Payslie, Paysly" ugghhghhghgh.
And some people won't. There is a painful history associated with a lot of words for different group. East Indians in the West Indies do not like the word coolie however, it doesn't have the exact same meaning here in the states.
#letsmoveawayfromrace
Let's talk about how I almost typed racial slut in my last post and literally checked like 15 times to make sure I didn't miss the R and hit the T. #thatwouldhavebeenembarrassing
ETA: While I typed this, there was a request to move away from race as a topic, so don't read this if you don't want to. Sorry.
It seems like the historically offensive use of "boy" is also highly contextual. Traditionally, "boy" is offensive when used to a singular black male adult. So obviously a teacher saying "Clean this up, boy!" to an adult janitor/other teacher/staff member would be patently racist, but asking a few actual teenage boys to help you clean up an art project by saying "Let's clean this up, boys!" seems much more ambiguous, and far less likely to give universal offense. I would guess even an American familiar with the historical use of the term could say this offhand without thinking of it as embedded in the historically racist usage of the term. There would be kids like the one in your story who disagree, but I would guess there would be kids who also wouldn't interpret it that way in this particular instance.
I feel really stupid, but how is "boys" derogatory? I am honestly ignorant on this one.
It has been used in history, toward black men to demean or make them feel as though they are less than.
So I knew about the historically derogatory meaning but I never really thought about this still being an issue I guess. So what do teachers do in this case? When I was a little kid in school the teachers always said "boys and girls" when they addressed the students. I guess I'm still really naive
I need to correct the spelling, its Paylzee. not any better.
At one point, our neighbors had names like that. The mom's name was Ashlee, the daughter's was Rylee, and the dog was Harley. At least the dog's name was spelled reasonably.
It has been used in history, toward black men to demean or make them feel as though they are less than.
So I knew about the historically derogatory meaning but I never really thought about this still being an issue I guess. So what do teachers do in this case? When I was a little kid in school the teachers always said "boys and girls" when they addressed the students. I guess I'm still really naive
Calling a young man or adult man that is different than calling a child a boy.
It seems like the historically offensive use of "boy" is also highly contextual. Traditionally, "boy" is offensive when used to a singular black male adult. So obviously a teacher saying "Clean this up, boy!" to an adult janitor would be patently racist, but asking a few actual teenage boys to help you clean up an art project by saying "Let's clean this up, boys!" seems much more ambiguous, and far less likely to give universal offense. I would guess even an American familiar with the historical use of the term could say this offhand without thinking of it as embedded in the historically racist usage of the term.
While I can see your point, the difference is the feelings that people associate with certain words. While you may logically know that a person didn't intend to be offensive, the past experience with the word still stands. The stories your families and friends told you about with their experience in that instance becomes yours. A white female in 1973 Alabama telling a group of Black teenagers to clean-up boys is going to be an problem. We are talking context here. Alabama was a hotbed of racial tension at this time and well into the 1980's. This is one of the States referred to as Deep South so there leaves little ambiguity in this instance.
Oh for sure. I'm just saying I could see how that context might not be apparent, given how removed it is from the original history of the term - not the South, not a singular addressee, not an adult, etc. Obviously if a student said it made him feel otherwise, she needed to stop saying it, so it's good he spoke up. That doesn't mean you can always anticipate how what you say will resonate with people.
I once had a female student confront me about sexism after class because I said "Good morning, guys!" at the beginning of class. I was shocked because the class that day was on feminist discourse and I consciously used "guys" instead of "ladies," "girls," etc. because I thought it was less patronizing and it is also widely used in trans* communities as a way of avoiding assigning gender people. To this student, however, because the singular "guy" usually means male, I had "created an unsafe learning environment for her."
ETA: I agreed to stop using the term in class, but also asked her to listen to my reasons for using it as a feminist myself.
While I can see your point, the difference is the feelings that people associate with certain words. While you may logically know that a person didn't intend to be offensive, the past experience with the word still stands. The stories your families and friends told you about with their experience in that instance becomes yours. A white female in 1973 Alabama telling a group of Black teenagers to clean-up boys is going to be an problem. We are talking context here. Alabama was a hotbed of racial tension at this time and well into the 1980's. This is one of the States referred to as Deep South so there leaves little ambiguity in this instance.
Oh for sure. I'm just saying I could see how that context might not be apparent, given how removed it is from the original history of the term - not the South, not a singular addressee, not an adult, etc.
My only point is you can't always anticipate how what you say will resonate with people. I once had a female student confront me about sexism after class because I said "Good morning, guys!" at the beginning of class. I was shocked because the class that day was on feminist discourse and I consciously used "guys" instead of "ladies," "girls," etc. because I thought it was less patronizing and it is also widely used in trans* communities as a way of avoiding assigning gender people. To this student, however, because the singular "guy" usually means male, I had "created an unsafe learning environment for her."
Number One: Born 06.16.2009 BFP: 01.17.2014 / MC 02.05.2014 BFP: 03.08.2014 / MMC: 05.07.2014 Dx: Partial Molar/GTD. Benched until 01.2015 Number Two: Born 07.22.2016
Oh for sure. I'm just saying I could see how that context might not be apparent, given how removed it is from the original history of the term - not the South, not a singular addressee, not an adult, etc.
My only point is you can't always anticipate how what you say will resonate with people. I once had a female student confront me about sexism after class because I said "Good morning, guys!" at the beginning of class. I was shocked because the class that day was on feminist discourse and I consciously used "guys" instead of "ladies," "girls," etc. because I thought it was less patronizing and it is also widely used in trans* communities as a way of avoiding assigning gender people. To this student, however, because the singular "guy" usually means male, I had "created an unsafe learning environment for her."
Oh Jesus.
Seriously! adorebel you are a saint. I would have told her to get the stick out of her ass. But that might not be PC either. Maybe she prefers beads?
July 2013 started TTC 7/20/2014=BFP; CP confirmed 8/1/2014 Dec 2014: Diagnosis = Unexplained IF 12/24/2014 Medicated TI (clomid)=BFN 1/22/2015: IUI #1 cancelled due to cyst 02/17/2015: IUI #2 cancelled due to another cyst 3/31/2015: IUI with Femera, 1 good follie, great sperm count = CP, my December Rainbow became an Angel
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