I used it in the title of my thread "Communication is not for sissies" and someone found the word offensive, equating it with "fag"

I thought I was ahead of the PC curve, and that my use of it was playful, invoking imaginary fearful beings such as myself. I got the phrase from my grandma who says "Old age is not for sissies".

Granted my grandmother would not be ahead of the PC curve, by definition...

discuss...

people pick the weirdest things to feel offended by

if they wanna be offended let um choose to be offended


life is too short

it was a good friend who picked it out. Sure he's active in the gay community and all, but man, I majored in Semiotics (where EVERY word gets dissected for PC-ness) and this included feminism and transgender studies. And I lived in San Francisco for 16 years and now live in Berkeley! If I'm not sensitive to such issues by now then...

I think he enjoys getting on the soapbox.

it's only offensive because it implies femininity which in turn equals weakness.

I think the word sissy is more girly than say "wuss" which seems to me a more unisex term for weakness

ZombieKitten said:

good point!

I think I was aware of its connotations and chose to use it with liberty, particularly because I was referring to myself in some ways

It communicates a lot of how I was feeling -- weakness, femininity, shamefulness, ostracization

and I was talking about communication not football, which is a traditionally feminine sphere


See? I can deconstruct just as well as anyone...

heartbeatocean said:

Only to some though

Femininity to me does not equal weakness

Mach said:

me neither, but I was using the term as to imply weakness, tongue-in-cheek I suppose, being a feminist myself.

heartbeatocean said:

ultimately it is only offensive to women haters

Lumberjack men can be sissies to you know!

ZombieKitten said:

and in turn it's offensive to women, since it tells us being weak like a woman is undesirable

"weakness" - I'm guessing it's used in most situations to describe a lack of physical strength

My school says "faint of heart"

ZombieKitten said:

he is one of those subtley-mysoginist gay men. Bingo!

heartbeatocean said:

I wasn't offended. Perhaps I have transcended my hatred of boob owners!

..
[Edited 11/13/09 17:10pm]

he wrote me this big long email about it, and I don't think I can drudge up the umph to even discuss the matter!

If you posted "Communication/Old age is not for sissies" I wouldn't be offended.

If some random dude called me a "fuckin sissy" I'd punch him in the mouth.

Intent/Context is everything to me. The world will never reach some unified level of what words are acceptable and which aren't.

I say offensive shit all the time. I'm probably not the best to chime in on this.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

heartbeatocean said:

How about you pass the email to Johnart or myself to respond!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

You mess.

johnart said:

Yeah, well I almost got maced last week. I need to release some tension

johnart said:

Exactly.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I think that would only encourage him.

heartbeatocean said:

You mean that you were too much of a sissy to do it yourself?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

naaaah, it's because you are a big old girl

ZombieKitten said:

I'm a sissy thank you very much

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

ZombieKitten said:

I want my mommy!

ZombieKitten said:

BINGO !

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

No, it would give him the opportunity to spout. I registered my annoyance, but I am the point where I choose my battles and this one isn't one worth choosing.

I guess for some people it is. It's rare for me to feel offended by words so