T̶u̶m̶b̶l̶r̶ wofl Megathread

[ultimamax]

This point isn't valid. handicapped isn't some 100 year old word once used to describe mentally handicapped people, it's a very recent word and it's too early to "coopt" it and remove it's meaning.

I find "gay" to be a better example because the word is still used to describe homoloveuals (mainly men but also women occasionally) yet is also used to negatively describe things. We didn't decide "well gay people have to be called something different now because i don't want to have to change how i speak", we started to phase out the negative use of this word.

Speaking from personal experience, the use of the word in a negative way and the insinuation that homoloveuality is bad has declined, but it could be because the people i surround myself with are maturer than once before.

this situation is no different. i'm not going to stuff on Jon for saying handicapped. i say it. i'm not proud of it. but it's not defensible. and people seem unable to accept that jon did something wrong, so they are rationalizing his behavior. the way he's handled this (especially when he was rude to the very polite callout) is not admirable.

[Ad Bot]

[Foxscotch]

it is when he's offended tumblr for no good reason

actually no it isn't
talking about jontron in relation to tumblr is still relevant. but it has gotten out of hand

[DrenDran]

This point isn't valid. handicapped isn't some 100 year old word once used to describe mentally handicapped people, it's a very recent word and it's too early to "coopt" it and remove it's meaning.

I find "gay" to be a better example because the word is still used to describe homoloveuals (mainly men but also women occasionally) yet is also used to negatively describe things. We didn't decide "well gay people have to be called something different now because i don't want to have to change how i speak", we started to phase out the negative use of this word.

Speaking from personal experience, the use of the word in a negative way and the insinuation that homoloveuality is bad has declined, but it could be because the people i surround myself with are maturer than once before.

this situation is no different. i'm not going to stuff on Jon for saying handicapped. i say it. i'm not proud of it. but it's not defensible. and people seem unable to accept that jon did something wrong, so they are rationalizing his behavior. the way he's handled this (especially when he was rude to the very polite callout) is not admirable.

He used some words on some website though.

[Mr.Noßody]

His reply was more directed towards the comment, not the user.
Why would he be offended if he weren't handicapped and obviously he isn't.

But no, this is what people decide to get angry about, somebody saying something potentially mean to somebody else.
Imagine how they'd react to my behavior?

[DrenDran]

[Ipquarx]

So why is tumblr upset with jontron? He said the word handicap? Has tumblr gone off the deep end again?

[hodot]

So why is tumblr upset with jontron? He said the word handicap? Has tumblr gone off the deep end again?

theyve already drowned

[synthesispandabot]

A handicap says the word handicap, who cares?

[Frostbyte]

That image of jon could be used in so many researchographic photoshops.

[synthesispandabot]

That image of jon could be used in so many researchographic photoshops.

only you would notice

[Dodger]

I remember in like third grade teachers were telling me to detach handicap from referring to mentally handicapped people

Just detach the meaning now, its not that hard

[hodot]

words dont even hurt me (much) anymore unless theyre from someone i truly care about lol

tumblr needs to get a big ole dose of life

[Regulith]

So why is tumblr upset with jontron? He said the word handicap? Has tumblr gone off the deep end again?

The "typical" tumblr user lives in a world where nobody ever says anything that could ever be interpreted as offensive and posted images are tagged with trigger warnings like "characters looking at the viewer", so when someone steps outside of that zone of "purity" they will happily type angry responses at the offender from their computer chairs for hours on end.

[Taboo]

Got one of my favourite 4chan banners in the roll which is highly relevant to Tumblr.

[otto-san]

I don't like to think that a word can have inherent offensiveness. Offense should be taken on a case where words are used offensively, not because of some kind of taboo vocabulary. It's all about context.

If I were to say "i don't like that weeaboo stuff" or "you're a weeaboo" I wouldn't expect people to get offended by the word "weeaboo" because I see no inherent offense to it. If I were to say "shut up weeaboo" in a completely serious manner, it would be offensive because a) I imply negativity toward being a weeaboo, b) I dismiss what the person is saying, supposedly because they're a weeaboo and weeaboos are bad, and c) I'm just being a butt and people don't like buttmen.

I don't quite believe in the concept of a "slur" because the entire point is that it is inherently offensive to a group of people. I can respect if people take offense to something, but it's absolutely asinine to cater to this on a scale where you're making general statement with millions of possible recipients. If you're being blatantly offensive, that's one thing; if you're just using a word some people might not like, that's another.

I certainly wouldn't say Jon has handled the situation correctly, but the entire thing was conceived from hypersensitivity and aggressiveness, and that is not okay in any context I could imagine. Especially if the people are making an active decision to involve themselves so they can kick and scream and try to get the world to comply with their problems. If I were in his place, I would've just left it alone and never replied to the guy in the first place. If it blew up anyway, the best way to handle it would be to say that no offense was intended. Any continuing controversy would be out of my control; there's nothing more for me to do.

blah blah blah yelling at the television the internet cares about me and my thoughts