Which of these words should be censored on the forum? (Trigger warning)

[VBM]

I believe these are probably the 5 most controversially censored words on this site (correct me if I’m wrong). Obviously I didn’t include the n word and 6-letter f word because I don’t think that very many people would be upset about those two being censored. I included a trigger word for people who are too faint hearted to see these words even in their partially bleeped forms.

[Existing in the Context of All in Which We Live]

4 and 5 seem adequate.

[7,052,770]

N, F, R, and the other F is probably sufficient. Maybe a few more slurs that are rarely said anyway, and the equivalents in other languages.

[John Dule]

No words should be categorically censored on this site. We're big boys and girls (okay, boys) who can be trusted to use basic English words. Every single one of these words can be used in an inoffensive, neutral context that is relevant to the subject matter discussed on this site. "Fuck" is said by politicians frequently; "shit" was said by Cory Booker in a nationally televised debate; "bitch" was said by a current presidential nominee in a hot mic; "r***rded" has multiple uses aside from referring to retarded people; and "cunt" is used by other Anglophile countries, many of whom have members on this site. I would add that "n*****" is frequently relevant when quoting political or media figures in certain contexts (remember Rick Perry's vacation ranch?), and "fa****" is really beginning to lose its sting as a slur as gay men begin to reclaim it. If someone uses any of these intemperately or disrespectfully, go ahead and moderate them, sure. But a blanket prohibition on their use is infantilizing.

And yeah, I said those words here. This is because we're having a neutral discussion of how to use language; if you're offended by this, then you've developed a Pavlovian response to certain sounds and symbols and you're not focusing on intent at all. Again, this is a website for adults. I'm sure we can handle it.

[VBM]

N, F, R, and the other F is probably sufficient. Maybe a few more slurs that are rarely said anyway, and the equivalents in other languages.

If we're going to ban the R word because it "dehumanizes" mentally handicapped people, should we not ban the word "dumb" for dehumanizing deaf people?

[VBM]

It's weird to me how sh*t is considered just as naughty as the f and b words on this site (I know, small voting sample so far, but still).

[VBM]

No words should be categorically censored on this site. We're big boys and girls (okay, boys) who can be trusted to use basic English words. Every single one of these words can be used in an inoffensive, neutral context that is relevant to the subject matter discussed on this site. "Fuck" is said by politicians frequently; "shit" was said by Cory Booker in a nationally televised debate; "bitch" was said by a current presidential nominee in a hot mic; "retarded" has multiple uses aside from referring to retarded people; and "cunt" is used by other Anglophile countries, many of whom have members on this site. I would add that "nigger" is frequently relevant when quoting political or media figures in certain contexts (remember Rick Perry's vacation ranch?), and "faggot" is really beginning to lose its sting as a slur as gay men begin to reclaim it. If someone uses any of these intemperately or disrespectfully, go ahead and moderate them, sure. But a blanket prohibition on their use is infantilizing.

And yeah, I said those words here. This is because we're having a neutral discussion of how to use language; if you're offended by this, then you've developed a Pavlovian response to certain sounds and symbols and you're not focusing on intent at all. Again, this is a website for adults. I'm sure we can handle it.

I wonder why the c word became so taboo in American society when British society and many other countries in the Anglosphere have no problem with it. I don't see why calling a woman a c word is so much worse than calling a man a dick. Sure, women are naturally more sensitive than men, but most people who lose their minds over a man saying the c word to a woman are the same people who get deeply offended whenever you say that there are any neurological/behavioral differences between men and women as an aggregate.

[VBM]

No words should be categorically censored on this site. We're big boys and girls (okay, boys) who can be trusted to use basic English words. Every single one of these words can be used in an inoffensive, neutral context that is relevant to the subject matter discussed on this site. "Fuck" is said by politicians frequently; "shit" was said by Cory Booker in a nationally televised debate; "bitch" was said by a current presidential nominee in a hot mic; "re*****" has multiple uses aside from referring to retarded people; and "cunt" is used by other Anglophile countries, many of whom have members on this site. I would add that "n*****" is frequently relevant when quoting political or media figures in certain contexts (remember Rick Perry's vacation ranch?), and "fa****t" is really beginning to lose its sting as a slur as gay men begin to reclaim it. If someone uses any of these intemperately or disrespectfully, go ahead and moderate them, sure. But a blanket prohibition on their use is infantilizing.

And yeah, I said those words here. This is because we're having a neutral discussion of how to use language; if you're offended by this, then you've developed a Pavlovian response to certain sounds and symbols and you're not focusing on intent at all. Again, this is a website for adults. I'm sure we can handle it.

Great post, but I would recommend that you do add one bleep to the n word at the very least since this politically correct mod team will no doubt delete it otherwise.

[Cokeland Saxton]

The one that's a slur against disabled people and the one that's almost always used to degrade women.

[John Dule]

The one that's a slur against disabled people and the one that's almost always used to degrade women.

None of these words are "almost always" used to degrade women. "C*nt" and "bitch" are more frequently used against men than "asshole" is against women.

[7,052,770]

N, F, R, and the other F is probably sufficient. Maybe a few more slurs that are rarely said anyway, and the equivalents in other languages.

If we're going to ban the R word because it "dehumanizes" mentally handicapped people, should we not ban the word "dumb" for dehumanizing deaf people?

If deaf people felt that "dumb" is on that severity tier,  then probably?

[axiomsofdominion]

N, F, R, and the other F is probably sufficient. Maybe a few more slurs that are rarely said anyway, and the equivalents in other languages.

If we're going to ban the R word because it "dehumanizes" mentally handicapped people, should we not ban the word "dumb" for dehumanizing deaf people?

If deaf people felt that "dumb" is on that severity tier,  then probably?

Dumb actually means "mute", not "deaf".

[Crumpets]

Of these, I'd say R- and C- are the most worthy of being banned since they're insults targeting specific groups of people, not just all-purpose expletives. Normally I'd include B- with those, but if we banned that, it would be basically impossible to discuss the careers of Ted Cruz or Lindsey Graham.

[dead0man]

I believe the reason is so the site is cool in Middle School computer labs.  Seems to me it would be hard to find a teacher or school district that would ban a 12 year old from reading Atlas due to someone calling someone else a c**nt.  Not impossible, there are thousands of bad teachers and school districts but the odds of it happening are pretty freaking small and not worth making the rest of us suffer under this tyranny*.



*obviously we aren't suffering, let me enjoy my hpyerbole

[Cokeland Saxton]

N, F, R, and the other F is probably sufficient. Maybe a few more slurs that are rarely said anyway, and the equivalents in other languages.

If we're going to ban the R word because it "dehumanizes" mentally handicapped people, should we not ban the word "dumb" for dehumanizing deaf people?

As someone who is autistic and has a speech impediment that I had speech therapy to partially fix, I've been called the r-word more than my fair share, despite the fact that I am clearly not intellectually disabled. In other words, using the r word means you are insinuating that the person lacks intelligence, which is a disservice to those who are actually disabled. It is, quite literally, the equivalent to the n-word, but for ableism. In modeern times, dumb is pretty much just a run-of-the-mill insult.

[Kamala's side hoe]

No words should be categorically censored on this site. -snip-

I wonder why the c word became so taboo in American society when British society and many other countries in the Anglosphere have no problem with it. I don't see why calling a woman a c word is so much worse than calling a man a dick. Sure, women are naturally more sensitive than men, but most people who lose their minds over a man saying the c word to a woman are the same people who get deeply offended whenever you say that there are any neurological/behavioral differences between men and women as an aggregate.

Probably gonna regret posting in this thread but

Ehh I love you VBM but this ain’t it chief

First of all, saying “women are naturally more sensitive than men” is not really correct. It is true that on aggregate there are some differences, and that includes that women tend to score higher on measures of neuroticism (tendency to feel negative emotions more strongly) than men but also they score higher on measures of emotional intelligence for example. Both could be seen as forms of “sensitivity” and women being “more sensitive” on average is not an inherently bad thing. I know you didn’t say that outright but it felt kinda implied.

Furthermore, the key is that such differences are on average/generalized/aggregated. There is still generally more variation in traits within groups than between them. So in other words any two individual women are more likely to be staunchly different on these traits than all women vs. all men. And of course there are plenty of somewhat neurotic men (raises hand) and plenty of very much not neurotic women (I’m married to one). So really not a helpful stereotype overall.

As for the “c*nt” thing, I really do look down on guys who say that to women. Sure logically you’d think it would be the equivalent of calling a man a dick. But due to the social stigma attached to it in US society at least, it is far nastier usually. Kinda like how a white person calling a black person the N word is worse than a black person calling a white person “cracker.” It just is what it is. You can’t ignore the social context of these things and look at them in a vacuum.

[DS0816]

I believe these are probably the 5 most controversially censored words on this site (correct me if I’m wrong). Obviously I didn’t include the n word and 6-letter f word because I don’t think that very many people would be upset about those two being censored. I included a trigger word for people who are too faint hearted to see these words even in their partially bleeped forms.

I do not support censorship.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The censor loves to mish**t.

[Frodo]

All except 'r*****'.  I know we are all about flouting the rules given how generally young Atlasians are, but let's maintain some level of decorum.

[wnwnwn]

I don't get the hypeof the r word.

[Battista Minola 1616]

I wonder why the c word became so taboo in American society when British society and many other countries in the Anglosphere have no problem with it. I don't see why calling a woman a c word is so much worse than calling a man a dick. Sure, women are naturally more sensitive than men, but most people who lose their minds over a man saying the c word to a woman are the same people who get deeply offended whenever you say that there are any neurological/behavioral differences between men and women as an aggregate.

The C word is usually considered the most offensive swear word in those other Anglosphere countries you're talking about (... maybe not Australia lol), so "no problem with it" is kind of a ridiculous thing to say. The difference is that over there nobody treats it as a slur against women, indeed as Dule pointed out it's likely more often applied to men. Of course, your second sentence is even more ridiculous.

[HisGrace]

I wonder why the c word became so taboo in American society when British society and many other countries in the Anglosphere have no problem with it. I don't see why calling a woman a c word is so much worse than calling a man a dick. Sure, women are naturally more sensitive than men, but most people who lose their minds over a man saying the c word to a woman are the same people who get deeply offended whenever you say that there are any neurological/behavioral differences between men and women as an aggregate.

In the UK people regularly call men the C word and it just means an unpleasant person. Kind of like bitch is in the US. The c word is only ever used to degrade women here, men should categorically never call women that like the n word with black people, it's not the same thing as calling a man a dick in practice even if the literal meaning is the same. I'm usually one to call out feminist double standards but this is not something I'm going to fight over.

[Still Nervous]

*ge

[DaleCooper]

I don't get the hypeof the r word.

A lot of people online self-identify as having social anxiety or being on the so-called autism spectrum and conflate that with real mental disabilities.

[emailking]

I don't think anything should be autocensored because there are contexts with legitimate uses, but #3, 4, and 5 should not be allowed in most circumstances that people would want to use them.