Hey Guys

[pErvinalia]

Hey cunts.

[Forty Two]

I like the term guys just because it is generic. Dudes is also cool with me

Anytime someone refers to me or me and other women in the office as "girls" it's usually them being a dick, so yeah I have come to kind of hate it. Also it makes you sound like my dad.

In my experience over the last 20-odd years -- the word "girls" is generally used by other women to refer to women in the office. Men generally do not use that word, because it gets us corrected.

Guys, for as long as I can remember, is not a term that refers just to men. I guess classically or traditionally the usage was guys for men and gals for women, but I don't know of any women that want to be referred to as "gals." I guess sometimes, "ladies" is alright, but outside of formal references, I don't know any women who want to be referred to as "the ladies."

But, dafuq man... to suggest that using the word "guys" is just as bad as using racial or sexist epithets, as the article suggests, is, well, IMO, ridiculous.

But, ok, from now on when I see a group, I will only use "guys" if I can confirm that they are all "guys." I suppose I will have to ask each of them if they are trans or not, because maybe they will want to be called gals, or something else. I don't think we can go with "folks" either, because folks implies that the group is made up of humans, and they could very well identify as Otherkin, and then all bets are off.

So, thinking through this, I think the only recourse is to see a group of people and say "I obsequiously offer you the preferred salutation of your choice to the group of possible living or non-living beings of various identities who have most recently passed through my field of vision." But, maybe verbal greetings at all are not appropriate, since they may trigger some people with anthropophobia. So, I think maybe we should change verbal greetings to a subtle head nod to the group as a whole, while averting eyes in case anyone in the group is offended by being looked at or suffers from scopophobia. But, fuck, what about the blind....?

With some further massaging, I think I'm on to something here.... oh, sorry to anyone who is sensitive to being touched, what with my use of the word massage and all....not everyone likes massages, and women suffer more at the hands of overly touchy masseurs...er, I mean massage therapists... I mean, not "therapists" as if you need therapy, not that there's anything wrong with therapy, but you know, not everyone needs therapy, especially by massage, some might just want a jazz-hands massage, with no touching.... so....

[pErvinalia]

Hey bags of atoms?

[Forty Two]

I like the term guys just because it is generic. Dudes is also cool with me

Anytime someone refers to me or me and other women in the office as "girls" it's usually them being a dick, so yeah I have come to kind of hate it. Also it makes you sound like my dad.

I used to work in a general practice where the senior partner always referred to the highly skilled and efficient admin staff, who actually did all his work for him, as 'the girls' - me included. It used to really grind my gears, and not just because I have a penis

Having a penis has nothing to do with whether you're a girl. It's a social construct, so for all he knew you identified as a girl. If you didn't tell him you weren't a girl, how was he to know? Should he assume just by how you look? That would be massively trans-phobic.

[Forty Two]

I am happy to live in a non-English world.

Try Spanish. Wait until the social justice warriors get started on the Latinos, Latinas, muchachos, muchachas, etc. It's amazing they are not already taking issue with manzanas being roja, and platanos being amarillo. They have teatros and dormitorios, but piscinas and guitarras.

Spanish is a very sexist language. Good thing a lot of tan people speak it, or the feminists would be all the fuck over it.

[pErvinalia]

As farcical as some of your carrying on is, I think you might be more or less on the money here.

[Forty Two]

On the money? You and your capitalist metaphors! It's offensive to socialists, communists and the otherwise non-currency motivated. Using the word "money" is just as bad as insults and epithets against the poor.

Wait.... I don't mean to say "poor" because that's judgmental, I mean, people lacking physical possession custody, or control of legal tender. Shit, sorry, I don't mean legal, because like, well, having illegal tender shouldn't be something that we look down on, because you know, they're just spending it to get a better life and they just want what everyone else wants..... The new word is undocumented tender for people who get things without using physical documented tender or no tender at all. For those using tender not issued by the government we should use the term "differently documented tender." So, the poor without money and thieves are using "undocumented tender," and counterfeiters are just "differently documented."

[pErvinalia]

You know it's possible to sometimes take a joke too far?

[pErvinalia]

And I was being serious. I think you are right that the regressive left won't criticise Spanish, as they are not white, therefore are immune from criticism.

[Forty Two]

And I was being serious. I think you are right that the regressive left won't criticise Spanish, as they are not white, therefore are immune from criticism.

But, Spanish people are white. That's one weird thing about it. Although I agree with you. The Progressives think spanish speakers are brown people. But, Spaniards are white.

And, hispanic doesn't mean brown either. Hispanic means that one comes from a spanish speaking country, like Mexico. But, Mexican is a nationality, not a race, just like American or Canadian. You aren't less American or Canadian by being black or brown, and neither are you less Mexican for being white or tan.

But, that's a digression. The reality is as you say -- south of the Rio Grande means "oppressed" because "brown." That's why a colonial country like Mexico is deemed to have the "rightful" claim to the southwestern part of the United States. Even though Mexico was colonized by Spain, Mexicans are now oppressed so Progressives think that Arizona should become part of Mexico because the United States is the oppressor. For some reason, the Progressives have it in their head that Mexico is a legitimate country, but the US is a country of white colonial oppressors.

[pErvinalia]

I don't like seeing the term "progressive" used as you do. I agree that there is an element of the left that is ultimately regressive, but that doesn't mean that all progressives are in favour of that sort of lunacy.

[Forty Two]

I don't like seeing the term "progressive" used as you do. I agree that there is an element of the left that is ultimately regressive, but that doesn't mean that all progressives are in favour of that sort of lunacy.

Not "all" of any political group believes the same thing. Christina Hoff Sommers is a feminist, for example. She's just not in the prevailing group of shit-stirring Progressive feminist activists.

Sure, not all Progressives will see eye-to-eye, but we have to use words. Just as you lump groups on the right together, and liberals in a group, and conservatives in a group, etc., when not "all" of them believe the same things either, we have to use language to communicate.

So, when I say "Progressive" I am referring to the regressive left, which is nowadays the prevailing public voice of Progressivism, in my view. To me, the sane Progressives need to take the movement away from the lunatic regressive authoritarians and the Social Justice Warriors.

[pErvinalia]

The lunatics are not the prevailing public voice of progressivism. They are a tiny minority (although, I grant they seem to be a slightly less minor minority in the US).

[Forty Two]

The lunatics are not the prevailing public voice of progressivism. They are a tiny minority (although, I grant they seem to be a slightly less minor minority in the US).

They are the prevailing public voice. If you'd like to articulate what progressivism is, and how it differs from the what I've suggested, feel free. But, Identity Poltics, Social Justice Warrior lingo, the Progressive Stack, Patriarchy Theory, Anti-Capitalism -- all are pillars of modern Progressivism. This is mainstream Progressivism. The shit that "Big Red" spouts at feminist rallies -- like when she is reading off of a piece of paper while shouting "shut the fuck up" at some men's rights guys - that's from mainstream, leading feminist and progressive thinkers. When Anita Sarkeesian reads off a paper at a conference, speaking profundities, she is quoting and pirating Bell Hooks and other major feminist, Progressive thinkers that the movement follows and adheres to.

[pErvinalia]

More or less the whole of the left side of politics in Australia is progressive. And I'd assume a reasonable chunk of the left in the US is the same. You can't seriously believe that something like 50% of our population is into that sort of radical shit. Progressivism means progressive taxation, decent welfare state, vanilla feminism, support for lgbti issues, repudiation of racism and sexism, and in Australia at least support for hate speech laws that target the only the most egregious bigoted speech.