Aliases Suck

[sinewav]

To say "girlish" helps set up the example of...engaging in a superficial activity. Your point is to say changing aliases constantly is a hollow activity....

That's not exactly helping.

I know. Word could have made his statement deliberately gender neutral and said "a child changing clothes on a puppet," but I think this would confuse the reader. Likewise, he could have chosen something even more generic like "choosing crayons to color a book with," but I think his example, while stereotypical, isn't necessarily derogatory to gender. Maybe if he had said this was all girls were capable of or that only girls should play with dolls I would agree. As I said before, I think the emphasis was on a superficial activity and it just so happens he chose something girls do instead of boys or something gender neutral. However, after this little exchange I am certain Word will be more gender aware in the future!

EDIT: Although, the word "girlish" is a problem for me. I'm not sure how to reconcile that.

[Phytotron]

I suppose I need to be more blunt. "Females have an inherent preference for and engage in infantile, frivolous, and superficial behavior." These are long-standing sexist stereotypes. That's the problem.


(I can't even directly respond to Word's last post, because it seems to be he's either completely lost, or there was a communication breakdown somewhere. Plausibly both.)

[Word]

Females have an inherent preference for and engage in infantile, frivolous, and superficial behavior

I was talking about children, not adults. I didn't say boys can't be infantile and all the other things, they're children as well. Most of them just don't happen to enjoy playing with dolls. Staging a car chase, or a battle between two action figures simply can't be compared to changing one's nickname (correct me if I'm wrong), so I chose girls and dolls. And 'superficial' isn't an offense here - an artist isn't superficial himself because he puts his paintings on some kind of surface, and if he creates a few different self-portraits, that's superficial in the same sense (but I don't think changing one's name is art, so I didn't use that analogy, and I don't deny that an artist or a child, or any person can have profound thoughts and feelings while engaging in any activity).

[Vogue]

i tried formulating a response to your nonsense but it's all so ******* stupid that it's impossible

[tentacles]

Although, the word "girlish" is a problem for me. I'm not sure how to reconcile that.

Girlish is synonymous childish. Considering that childish is the more frequently used and accepted word for the same concept, using girlish is a form of sexism. Be it minor, be it unintentional, the wording choice is still a sign of our culture's sexist views. Our current language was developed in a male-dominated society, so it's entirely possible to have a problem with a word and not necessarily its intended use. Just a thought for your consideration.