The reason I rarely, if ever get involved in threads like this - or even bother to read through them is this: it is f-ing impossible to qualify what you have to offer of *yourself* without offending someone. In fact, the qualifying is tedious.
Obviously people speak only from their own experience, as themselves.
And it's a forum, meaning anyone who feels s/he has something to contribute should. Some people are a-holes. Some are misunderstood. Some are early in h/is process, or young, or insecure, and project their own "shoulds", even inadvertently, and although it is judgmental, the person hasn't the capacity to recognize it.
While semantics and language are important, it is equally important to understand from where a person is coming rather than to fixate on wording.
All I really know is it's tiresome when a conversation about a complex subject ends up with people quoting, quoting and quoting again to clarify, defend, etc. We're all on the same side - we all seek community, and while there is room for disagreement, it should not be about things insanely personal, like how we choose to define ourselves, feel, or be. We get enough crap from the rest of the world, if anyone should be able to respect the members of this vast planet, we should. Even if we are just understanding that someone is extremely touchy about language. And for those extremely touchy about language - the same - understand that there is NO way, without a paragraph drawn up by an attorney, to write about these topics in a way that doesn't offend someone.
In a way, it's all silly, and prevents real communication.
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