I'm asking you nicely, mind, keep the comments like that last one to yourself. That wasn't necessary.
I'm sorry, but I didn't mean offense. I said that I didn't mean it in a negative way, just to demonstrate the inaccuracy of what his head looks like.
I think personally it's wrong to completely remove such things are descriptive terms. P.C. should only really be used for protecting minorities and for really deep sensitivity. When I can't call what I see in front of me in
any shape or form, we're loosing part of our ability to communicate, throwing information away. As a Utilitarian I take serious issue with that.
I really think it should be sufficient that I did not use it in an offensive manner, and that we should pretend that conditions like DS don't exist and have no ill effects except when we're pitying them.
My father works in a "special" school so I have been in contact with a more than fair share of DS children.
I don't think it benefits them at all to be completely uber sensitive and censorring around them. One of the things I notice with disabled children is that they're not very self aware - which isn't necessarily listed as a product of their disability as I have seen those who ARE self aware. It's often more of a result of the "comfort blanket"; pulling the wool over their eyes.
"What they are" is played down; they're never fully aware of it. There's no way you can work around a mental issue unless you know exactly what it means and what you're dealing with. You need a frame of reference to work around - the brain is well known for it's ability to adapt and do something another way elsewhere if something somewhere isn't quite working. But if you don't know what's broken and what needs to be done to begin with, how can you compensate?
I think that there are times when it's in appropriate. For instance, if I say a very masculine or "camp" looking woman looks like a Transsexual, that is quite insensitive as most Trans people try to distance themselves from that and have had horrendous experiences trying to do so. At the same time, if I see a woman that has features that look like "feminised" male features, a more accurate representation of a trans woman, I won't hesitiate to call it and neither would many of my trans friends.
However, as being transgendered is essentially a disability in itself(both physically and mentally) it does have it's own "Comfort Blanket". Having mixed with LGBT people terribly, I can see the kind of effects it has. It shoves people more and more into their own fantasy worlds. Yes, you're REALLY a woman, but you're still a transsexual too. I swear to god, there were a select few who refused to acknowledge the word "Transsexual" and thought it should be eliminated completely, just acknowledge that "Some women have different needs".
I really dislike this, those kind of girls annoy the hell out of me. This is going too far, wrapping a fantasy comfort blanket. You're not just a woman with "different needs", you're a vastly different type of woman and that needs to be emphasised if you want to get the help you need. This might seem like flakey protocol; but otherwise you're stuffing Transgender support in with all the everyday difficulties women tend to face. This would be horrid for psychiatric/counselling services. It is
incredibly naive.
If you're a lesbian, you're not just a "Woman with different needs", you're a goddamn Lesbian. You CAN be both, you know. Are disabled women just women with "different needs" too? They're disabled, and that absolutely shouldn't be STIGMATISED, but it needs in the right situations to be EMPHASISED. There's a difference. I was, above, emphasising, not stigmatising, in fact I was hardly even emphasising if you think about it.
Also, extending P.C. too far only serves to gives those who oppose it opportunity to take potshots at it.
Because of these experiences, I feel strongly about this. Please consider my own experiences.
I don't see why saying Starscream looked like a Downes Syndrome Mr. T is that different from saying he looked like a Spanish Mr. T, or whatever. Surely i don't intend anything bad about Spanish people or Mr.T, just using an "Out of Character" combination to emphasise how "Out of Character" Starscream's head looks?
I can see how it's a little bit sensitive since I did use it in a "Ridicule" sentence but I still really think it's something that should be taken lightly, due to the fact that I made sure to point out that it should be. You shouldn't "duly note" every LITTLE sensitivity; or again, you'll end up limiting our communication.
