How often do feminists decry "offensive" material/language/people. Stephen Fry sums up my thoughts on the matter (x-post from r/quotesporn).

mister_ghost · 2013-11-05T18:52:56+00:00

A_User · 2013-11-05T17:22:57+00:00

Careful posting him around here. According to feminists we're anti-gay.

Neurotikitty · 2013-11-05T18:15:53+00:00

I write horror stories. Sometimes they even do well on Amazon.

You'd be shocked at the number of people who think, 'OMG, that was too disturbing!' to be a valid criticism of a horror story.

Edit: I'm not bitter. To be honest, a one-star review that says something like that is worth far more sales than a five-star review that declares your story to be awesome. I just wonder why they buy horror stories if they didn't want to be scared.

ILoveHate · 2013-11-05T20:09:44+00:00

"I'm offended" is just another way of saying "I don't like what you're doing and I want you to stop". Of course no one would listen to you if you said the latter.

Reads_Small_Text_Bot · 2013-11-06T04:19:22+00:00

I'm offended by how awesome Stephen Fry is.

^{^{^Am}} ^{^{^I}} ^{^{^doing}} ^{^{^it}} ^{^{^right?}}

ThatCynicalCynicism · 2013-11-05T23:54:35+00:00

There's an audio clip of him online saying this, although to my recollection it was specifically targeted at organized religion. I'm not sure what Mr Fry's stance on feminism is.

germaneuser · 2013-11-05T18:12:23+00:00

Regardless of who said it, that quote is freaking gold. Love it!

goodcool · 2013-11-06T02:45:08+00:00

Hi, I'm afraid I'm an interloper here as I don't subscribe to your beliefs and only read this subreddit as a matter of cultural interest, but please hear me out a moment.

I'm a big fan of Stephen Fry's work and have been since I was a young man in England, and feel I must clarify this statement as this meme gets handed around frequently and I feel is used unfairly. This is not meant to be a carte blanche for people to use offensive words, all one need do is watch his talks on the language of the holocaust or gay bashing to know he recognises the power of words and how important it is to mind what we say. If I may quote from the latter:

"[...] [I]f you let words and insults go by unchallenged, if you don't allow the dignity of gay people, you give [those who would execute homosexuals] free reign to do as they wish."

He's also fairly clear on this in his books and writing. I think were you to ask him, he might clarify that it is meaningless to simply be offended as that does nothing to alleviate the problem of shaming or inciteful language, but it is crucial to always call out and correct people who use hateful, homphobic, or exclusive language because words have power. The power of language is one of Fry's favourite subjects and one he has dedicated a lot of writing to.

Now, it may be so that in some cases people are offended meaninglessly, because I know that in America sometimes people will pretend to be 'offended' if their local courthouse doesn't have a nativity or are 'offended' by people who wear head scarves. In that case, it may be okay to take it at face value. However, I've seen this meme used in defence of "OP is a faggot / can't stop sucking dicks" cretins who simply wish to say anything with no consequences. I make no assumption about which side the gentlemen here fall under, but it's a very important distinction.

havabeer · 2013-11-06T09:19:32+00:00

On the other hand I think offensive people are far more common, there for people are more often offended. In the name of freedom and doing what I damn well want selfish people cause a hell of a lot of offense and usually their response to offending someone is "well, so fucking what?"

ZimbaZumba · 2013-11-05T19:29:40+00:00

The phrase "I am offended" is as old as language itself and is used by the judgmental to put others at a disadvantage. Excellent meme/quote.

2013-11-06T01:13:40+00:00

Only women get to subjectively determine what is and is not offensive.

DolphinSixFive · 2013-11-06T01:38:59+00:00

This could also be titled: "How often do MRAs decry 'offensive' material/language/people. Stephen Fry sums up my thoughts on the matter (x-post from r/quotesporn)."

Bukkake_Monster · 2013-11-06T08:11:56+00:00

Made me think about this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7gP1xgRDJ4

KillJoy575 · 2013-11-06T18:35:41+00:00

Wow.

caius_iulius_caesar · 2013-11-10T14:29:24+00:00

Argument against tone.

blarghable · 2013-11-06T12:17:35+00:00

okay.

all men are rapists. fathers are useless. i wish all men were dead.

thebuhlscrapes · 2013-11-06T04:10:48+00:00

So you guys will stop being offended by "creep" "deadbeat dad" "misogynst"?

I mean, who cares if you're offended?

Or does this only apply when feminists are offended?

whatsazipper · 2013-11-05T23:00:02+00:00

[permanently deleted]

MechPlasma · 2013-11-05T20:10:10+00:00

[permanently deleted]

wowwowwhoa · 2013-11-06T03:09:11+00:00

Yes. Fits in quite well with this sudden obsession with being offended by the word "creep". To which I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Fry - So. Fucking. What. But of course the creeps will not agree, I assume

Title	How often do feminists decry "offensive" material/language/people. Stephen Fry sums up my thoughts on the matter (x-post from r/quotesporn).
Author	madlordofestnoth
Upvotes	311
Comments	108
Date	November 5, 2013 5:14 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1pyl6n/how_often_do_feminists_decry_offensive/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/how-often-do-feminists-decry-offensive.1159571 https://theredarchive.com/post/1159571

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