Self-reflective comment.

[auronlu]

1) Unfortunately, I was always stubborn, and many years of learning to hone and dissect arguments in cutthroat academia means that it is hard for me to disengage from certain discussions. Bryn Mawr, where women are taught to speak articulately and firmly, also sharpened my fangs.

2) I have no patience with the "emo" term being bandied about lately (or, hm, has it been 5 years or so now? I'm not up on children's slang). Then again, I think kids were calling their peers "sissies" when I was in school. Working on a PhD in psychology has not, unfortunately, made me more patient with the prejudices and name-calling maneuverings people use to bolster their own egos at others' expense. One of the many things broken about society is that children taunt one another for daring to grapple with and express their feelings. If we were all animals who ate, slept, and reproduced without any enhancements to our life experience that would be fine, but humans think and feel-- that's what makes us human. Denying either one (hello, Shrubya) diminishes us.

3) I do feel bad for dropping into dagas_isa's LJ recently with fangs honed because of #1. Hence this post. I do not wish to sow dragon's teeth in someone else's LJ, so I have stepped out lest I find myself wishing to reply to her rude visitor again. I have the sneaking suspicion that he's young enough to be my son, which makes his "older and wiser" posturing both tiresome and amusing.

Dagas, if you see this, sorry for going off a bit and disturbing the peace and quiet of your LJ. It's hard for me to keep my opinionated trap shut sometimes, even on silly comments that don't deserve a reply. ;)

Comments

[dagas-isa.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about it. I didn't think about it before posting, but that post was probably a pile of lighter fluid waiting for a match. The person who flamed my journal didn't seem like the type of person who's criticisms were worth listening to. He feels better because he hurt a little fic brat, and I got amused watching someone judge my fic based on one post. Sure it's annoying, but still.

Though, I do want to thank you for standing up for me, although I really didn't feel like I should say that on my journal and continue baiting the person.

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

Lighter fluid... yeah, I guess, but it wouldn't have occurred to me that you'd said anything there to set anybody off, until I saw the flame response.

You're welcome! It was silly of me to let him get under my skin, but it felt like someone else ought to speak up, since, as you say, if you'd asserted yourself, he'd have patted himself on the back for getting a rise out of you.


(And ack. Someone poke me for getting on my high horse and calling anyone "children". I've got sixty year old relatives who are just as mature as this fellow, and I've got online friends young enough to be my kids who have far more sense than I do.)

*Puts on music-geek hat*

[muggy-mountain.livejournal.com]

I haven't been following the discussion over there, but I just want to clarify the Emo thing a bit. Pardon me if you know this already. It's not (yet) quite the equivalent of pussy...Emo originated as a term to identify a genre of music and later, the fans of said genre. It's been around since the mid-eighties but it's only recently exploded into the mainstream. It has the power to be a bit of a weak insult, but not really equivalent to pussy. It's more along the lines of being called a punk or a goth due to one's behavior. Such as a loud, misbehaving kid being called a punk or a mopey wearer of black being called a goth. It's judgmental, but it's usually done in a jocular fashion and isn't *usually* meant as severe put-down.

Some even wear the emo badge with pride or irony. My younger sister, for example, is quite smitten with the current pop Emo and yet she has a sense of humor about her sub-culture.

Re: *Puts on music-geek hat*

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

Okay, that makes sense, and generally I've seen "emo" used more jokingly, like Goth.

I've seen a few online discussions where people ranted about "emos" as losers, wimps, dysfunctional persons who are inferior because they wear their hearts on their sleeves. It reminded me of high school peers tormenting one of my classmates for studying ballet and calling him "twinkle toes".

I guess it's a spectrum, like "dyke", which several of my friends use as an enthused compliment ("wow, that woman is SUCH a DYKE!") but which was nothing of the sort in high school!

[trekqueen.livejournal.com]

*huggles auronlu* dunno what happened, don't care. just want my auronlu happy. *snuggles*