[WikiEN-l] User page issue

[Guettarda]

On 3/21/06, Steve Bennett <stevage at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 3/20/06, Arwel Parry <arwel at cartref.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> > I agree too, I raised my eyebrows when I first saw "Fenian Swine" appear
> > last year, but mainly because I would consider it a highly derogatory
> > term that some British people might use about the Irish, not the other
> > way round.
>
> That doesn't really matter, does it? We wouldn't accept any user
> calling themselves a name with the famous "n bomb" (rhymes with
> trigger...), regardless of whether they were a black American.


Actually it does matter who uses a word.  It's all about context - the word
"nigger" is acceptable when used by black people but not by white people
because it's one thing to mock yourself and another to be mocked by someone
else.  The level of offense is different when used by someone from another
oppressed/disempowered group.  Of course, Fenian isn't anywhere near as
offensive a term, as far as I know.

As for an insult turning into a badge of honour - you need only look at the
terms Tory and Whig

Ian