On Mon, June 4, 2007 9:13 am, Charlotte Webb wrote:
One of the most confusing paradoxes of NPOV is the dubious concept that norms exist for all personal attributes. There are no categories or lists of "straight" people or "white" people because either of these is actually perceived as the *absence" of a defining characteristic, or in short, "the norm" (even in specialized contexts where being "straight" or "white" would seem unusual to the "average reader").
Maybe something doesn't seem quite right about this? I'm not sure what could reasonably be done, other than a general de-emphasis of people's sexuality, race, religion, etc.
Well, except that it's society that's not NPOV in this direction. There's "LBGT studies" and "African American studies" and "gay cinema" and whatever else, which is just as much a reaction to the POV way society handled those groups previously.
To de-emphasize these things would probably be more POV than to note them properly. Do we overdo it sometimes? Probably. But is there no place for it?
-Jeff