jeffw@tekecs.UUCP (Jeff Winslow) (07/11/84)
Sorry, Sophie, but whether an attitude is bigotry or just opinion is not determined merely by how it is expressed. First, all bigotry is just opinion. Or do you think that a bigot's attitude toward that which she despises is based on truth? It is commendable that Trish chose the construction, "I think that.." rather than "Most men are...". But - whether I say, for example, "I think all women are ignorant sluts" or "All women are ignorant sluts", I'm still a bigot. Recognizing my own prejudices makes no difference. By the way, were you affected by the first statement the same way you were affected by Trish's generalization? Would you have been if you thought I meant it? As for "unhappy and not well-adjusted", I don't know about the first, but anyone who despises half of humanity (if indeed she does) is not well- adjusted, period. Being a lesbian or not has absolutely nothing to do with that. Jeff Winslow
seifert@ihuxl.UUCP (D.A. Seifert) (07/12/84)
> Recognizing my own prejudices makes no difference. Wrong! You can't work on correcting your problem if you don't know you *have* a problem. -- _____ /_____\ "Get out there and keep moving forward!" /_______\ - Leo Franchi |___| Snoopy ____|___|_____ ihnp4!ihuxl!seifert
smann@ihu1g.UUCP (Sherry Mann) (07/12/84)
For those who have asked Sophie if she is more offended by "Most women are..." or "I think most women are...", I'd like to express how I feel. I definitely react to "I think" differently than "Most women are" - with the former, I tend to feel a little sorry for the person expressing the sentiment for the bad experiences they must have had to lead them to feel that way, and also, believe it or not some amount of empathy because I have had experiences I'd rather not have had which have colored the way I feel about things. The latter expression therefore offends me more, and sounds to me more like a bigoted statement than an effort to let me know something about the speaker. Sherry Mann
chabot@amber.DEC (Lisa S. Chabot) (07/15/84)
On the contrary, the recognition of the differences between one's own opinions and others that is expressed in "I think that" *is* important, and could have helped some not bruise their feelings in this tortuous discussion. At the very least, more appropriate than many of the direct responses, would have been a mild rebuttal on the order of "Hey, I don't think so :-)" Then many would have been spared the thankless job of defending someone's right to express personal opinions. Are some really so inexperienced in dealing with the opinions of others that they might consider to be insulting opinions? Wattsa matta, don't you folks have relatives with whom to spend the holidays :-)? Blatantly declaring my close-minded opinions again, L S Chabot UUCP: ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-amber!chabot ARPA: ...chabot%amber.DEC@decwrl.ARPA USFail: DEC, MR03-1/K20, 2 Iron Way, Marlborough, MA 01752
colonel@gloria.UUCP (George Sicherman) (07/27/84)
[Hey, look ... here's another one of those bizarre signs] >> Recognizing my own prejudices makes no difference. > Wrong! You can't work on correcting your problem if you > don't know you *have* a problem. He does not think there is anything the matter with him because one of the things that is the matter with him is that he does not think that there is anything the matter with him ... there is something the matter with him because he thinks there must be something the matter with us for trying to help him to see that there must be something the matter with him to think that there is something the matter with us for trying to help him to see that we are helping him ... R. D. Laing, _Knots_ -- Col. G. L. Sicherman ...seismo!rochester!rocksanne!rocksvax!sunybcs!gloria!colonel