Poll: Do you think this is sexist?
- Thread starter Mandalore_15
- Start date
People seem to be very picky over what is and isn't acceptable when it comes to gender specific terms. Sure, you say landlady is sexist in place of landlord... but you wouldn't refer to a ruling female monarch as King now would you?
People can't have it both ways, this sort of thing is just ridiculous when you break it down. If it was the case that woman wanted to be completely equal to men in terms of labeling, perhaps we should just start, I dunno, calling them men too?
People can't have it both ways, this sort of thing is just ridiculous when you break it down. If it was the case that woman wanted to be completely equal to men in terms of labeling, perhaps we should just start, I dunno, calling them men too?
Urgh, the reason I was "taken aback" is that I had been going under the misapprehension that she was phoning a MAN only to find out his name was "Chloe". Seriously, it's not difficult to understand!Sober Thal said:
Political correctness and fake 'sensitivity' is destroying people's free will and individuality. It also seems to be only the predominantly 'white' countries that do this, where every white person should be made to feel guilty for living, especially white males.
Places like America and the UK really sport this attitude and new social conditioning. Be afraid to say anything, don't offend anyone, kowtow to everything someone 'different' demands of you, otherwise you're a pig.
Meanwhile, you can go to any other country thats not 'white', be it Japan, Mexico, what have you, and you will not see a political correctness movement like we see here in America or UK, and you will also not see any movements towards 'diversifying' the population of their home countries, either. In countries that task themselves with actually living, and getting things done, you will not see any bullshit about 'combating sexism', so as not to offend a woman by calling her an 'actress'. Nonsense. Orwellian trash.
This entire movement is destroying freewill and independent thought.
Places like America and the UK really sport this attitude and new social conditioning. Be afraid to say anything, don't offend anyone, kowtow to everything someone 'different' demands of you, otherwise you're a pig.
Meanwhile, you can go to any other country thats not 'white', be it Japan, Mexico, what have you, and you will not see a political correctness movement like we see here in America or UK, and you will also not see any movements towards 'diversifying' the population of their home countries, either. In countries that task themselves with actually living, and getting things done, you will not see any bullshit about 'combating sexism', so as not to offend a woman by calling her an 'actress'. Nonsense. Orwellian trash.
This entire movement is destroying freewill and independent thought.
What, what, WHAT?!? Since when did improper nouns in English have genders? I am legitimately confused...The_root_of_all_evil said:
Also, what is the difference between a landlord and landlady then, if not their gender?
I have just solved this entire threads arguments with perfectly reasonable, calm, logic.
Historically speaking, a Lord was male and a Lady was female. The term Landlord, since it includes Lord is assumed to be male by most. It's not sexist, in the derogatory sense, it's an automatic response.
Speaking in modern terms, Landlord has simply become a term used to identify someone 'Lording' over whatever plot of land you are inhabiting, and is not gender specific.
Evidently, roughly half of the Escapists on here are going by the historic term and equating Lord to male and Lady to female (Which is perfectly reasonable, and not derogatory in any form, by the way), while the other half prefer to use the more modern term, equating 'Landlord' with either gender.
In short, you were technically being sexist, in that you separated the modern, gender-neutral landlord into it's component gender-based progenitors Lord and Lady, but you weren't being deliberately insulting in any way.
You were, however, being rather rude by specifically correcting her terminology with your own because, as evidenced here, different people equate different terms to different meanings.
There, you see? Perfectly reasonable, calm, logic. Insult free and informative.
Why don't more people post this way? As opposed to instantaneously throwing around insults and assuming that, because their opinion differs, they are automatically right, and therefore better?
Historically speaking, a Lord was male and a Lady was female. The term Landlord, since it includes Lord is assumed to be male by most. It's not sexist, in the derogatory sense, it's an automatic response.
Speaking in modern terms, Landlord has simply become a term used to identify someone 'Lording' over whatever plot of land you are inhabiting, and is not gender specific.
Evidently, roughly half of the Escapists on here are going by the historic term and equating Lord to male and Lady to female (Which is perfectly reasonable, and not derogatory in any form, by the way), while the other half prefer to use the more modern term, equating 'Landlord' with either gender.
In short, you were technically being sexist, in that you separated the modern, gender-neutral landlord into it's component gender-based progenitors Lord and Lady, but you weren't being deliberately insulting in any way.
You were, however, being rather rude by specifically correcting her terminology with your own because, as evidenced here, different people equate different terms to different meanings.
There, you see? Perfectly reasonable, calm, logic. Insult free and informative.
Why don't more people post this way? As opposed to instantaneously throwing around insults and assuming that, because their opinion differs, they are automatically right, and therefore better?
He thought all land/lords/ladies/owners were men, in other words, that no woman was a landlord/lady/owner... did I make sense?zehydra said:
Did he mean to be sexist? I think not, that's all that matters (to me).
I'm on the side that it's not sexist, but ya maybe shoulda held in the correction, it wasn't really helpful and just makes people feel bad, which is maybe why she snapped at you about sexism, just anything to hit back. Some people are just touchy 
I would however suggest that contrary to popular belief, I don't blame the 'PC Brigade' for all this. (who are they anyway, do they arrive at speed on a firetruck and tut loudly if someone says blackboard? )
I think the majority of the 'OMG the PC fascists won't even let me write racist abuse in excrement on my neighbour's car' lot have just been misled by a selection of journos who know PC is basically politeness and equality and don't like it one bit.
So many of the tales of conkers being banned, bananas not being allowed to be imported for being bendy, foreigners taking 98% of our jobs, 3 in 4 kids born in britain are to non whites, etc, etc, end up either being completely fabricated, or having some grain of truth, inflated into a front page headline.
Now I think people can be too touchy, too ready to holler at the first sign of someone saying something as harmless as landlord, but I'd say it's because the anti PC lot have spread this myth that the PC lot are going to bundle you into a van and take you away if you call a very dark pen 'black'. It's not going to happen, the fear Glenn Beck and Richard Littlejohn show comes from inside their own head.
I would however suggest that contrary to popular belief, I don't blame the 'PC Brigade' for all this. (who are they anyway, do they arrive at speed on a firetruck and tut loudly if someone says blackboard?
)I think the majority of the 'OMG the PC fascists won't even let me write racist abuse in excrement on my neighbour's car' lot have just been misled by a selection of journos who know PC is basically politeness and equality and don't like it one bit.
So many of the tales of conkers being banned, bananas not being allowed to be imported for being bendy, foreigners taking 98% of our jobs, 3 in 4 kids born in britain are to non whites, etc, etc, end up either being completely fabricated, or having some grain of truth, inflated into a front page headline.
Now I think people can be too touchy, too ready to holler at the first sign of someone saying something as harmless as landlord, but I'd say it's because the anti PC lot have spread this myth that the PC lot are going to bundle you into a van and take you away if you call a very dark pen 'black'. It's not going to happen, the fear Glenn Beck and Richard Littlejohn show comes from inside their own head.
I wouldn't say it's offensive.
I'm just puzzled as to why you corrected her. It wasn't even necessary.
I'm just puzzled as to why you corrected her. It wasn't even necessary.
Actually, he simply equated the term Landlord with a male, while his neighbor equated it to either gender.esperandote said:
Had she said 'My landlady' he would have equated it to a female, not been surprised, would have said 'well then, I guess we're all good', and this thread would not exist.
Sometimes it's just second nature to people. I've done that on a number of occasions and actually smacked myself for doing so because, while it's not meant to be offensive, it often makes you seem arrogant.Mr. Eff said:
A lot of people are assuming that he "corrected" her on the spot, in a condescending manner. I read it more like he was slightly surprised that she really meant it was a woman, because he was expecting a man. So he 'thought out loud'.
Again, the PC crowd comes in here and says "she wasn't being PC, but you shouldn't have opened your mouth (lol)". "There is no PC control, so stop exaggerating, but anyway, just shut your mouth when you're not sure," You folks are so far gone.
Again, the PC crowd comes in here and says "she wasn't being PC, but you shouldn't have opened your mouth (lol)". "There is no PC control, so stop exaggerating, but anyway, just shut your mouth when you're not sure,
" You folks are so far gone.If there is a gender neutral term, I go with that. (ie, it's Police Officer, Mail Carrier, Server, etc.)
If not, I certainly use the gendered versions.
That said, I don't think comparing English to Spanish or German really flies. Yes, in those languages, all nouns have gender. But we're not speaking those languages. English does not have inherently gendered nouns, so it's kind of a moot point. It's like saying, "Hey, in Vietnamese, you don't conjugate verbs, so what's this with people thinking I have to conjugate verbs in English?!"
If not, I certainly use the gendered versions.
That said, I don't think comparing English to Spanish or German really flies. Yes, in those languages, all nouns have gender. But we're not speaking those languages. English does not have inherently gendered nouns, so it's kind of a moot point. It's like saying, "Hey, in Vietnamese, you don't conjugate verbs, so what's this with people thinking I have to conjugate verbs in English?!"
Both forms should be fine. However, I do think you were in the wrong, at least socially, for correcting her. Landlord as a reference to a female is nothing wrong, if slightly indistinct. But clearly from the context you knew the person's gender, so the correction was rather pedantic.Mandalore_15 said:
And from her perspective I could see how she'd think that you, going out of your way to point out her gender, was maybe being a little silly, if not actually sexist.
Imagine if I said:
"My friend Carl was watching TV the other day." and you corrected me with "don't you mean your BLACK friend Carl?"
I think that was the vibe she was getting from you, even if you hadn't intended it.
I don't think your gender should be important from a professional stand point, so the "useful information" these terms relay is completely useless. If you're going to treat both genders the same you really don't need to know their gender in their job title, now do you? That is the point people are trying to make with this while you whine about them being "too sensitive".