[lit-ideas] Sweet Georgia Brown

From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:35:01 EDT
In a message dated 4/24/2009 5:27:01 P.M.  Eastern Daylight Time, 
ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
To me it's a word like  "Frogs," to be used only when it's clear you  
mean no  harm.

David Ritchie,
loving the frogs in

---

Unless you  do mean harm.

There was a discussion in a philosophy forum recenty, and  one African 
American philosopher residing in Germany wrote a letter to a  newspaper saying,

"You may not call me  African-American"
"You may not call me a 'woman  philosopher'"

etc. -- it's a long letter and available online. Her name  is Piper.

In any case, it struck me that while she has obviously a right  not be 
wanted to be called this or that, people _may_, in the epistemic sense.  And 
it's not always easy to say that 'pejoration' is involved.

I think  labels like those work best when self-used. Thus, a pejorative 
term is not  pejorative when used by someone to self-label. But people will 
bring in the  issue of 'internalised self-loathing'.

Oddly, Rupert Everett, who has  done a terrible thing to his face, is said 
online to have 'some obvious  self-loathing issues' to have done what he did 
(He's playing "Blithe Spirit" on  Broadway's Shubert Theatre, along with 
'legenday' Angela  Lounsbury).

Cheers,

JL  

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[lit-ideas] Sweet Georgia Brown

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