*sigh* Ozzie my boy, much as I like you and the way you express yourself, I have to point out one thing, and publicly so, since you've chosen to also air out the laundry of your typically inflammatory comments. i know where you're coming from, and i know (and like) your style. but here's the thing kid: sometimes you don't listen very carefully. you get lost in the flair of your expression (or in the enthusiasm for your own ideas and way of speaking them) that you forget to listen carefully to what is actually being said.

my "self-effacing" comment had to do with Damien's subtitle. did you even read it? (this is a very good example why IM convos don't work for me all the time, btw.) well anyway, here's the subtitle again, in a suitably boldened and purpled font, just so you don't miss it this time:

(Well, at least when they refer to insignificant things like people like me.) :-P

and yes, the color is a meta-comment. and no, that isn't meant to denigrate anyone. (quite the opposite in fact. ask me to elaborate if this is too subtle for you.) oh and btw, remember that image above that Angel crafted for AIC/TIC this summer? he couldn't quite find a picture of me to put in drag (unlike the one of you that was done by Cole/Anna), so he did that instead. funneee!

in any case, all you other readers, check out today's weblogging 'controversy.' i actually don't think it's one, it's just that Ozzie has chosen to make it so.

FAQs Are Queer? C'MON!!! Ozzie's response to Damien's FAQ title

Defense Damien's reply

anybody else care to weigh in on this? Trev? *chuckle* (believe me, Oz, i *think* i defused something you might have considered far more disturbing, on greeneyes' faq.)

(more to come later, when work allows.)

Part 2: defusing loaded words...

Years ago, when I was living in a dorm as a Berkeley freshman (well, sophomore since I was a transfer from the University of the Philippines but that's another story), this guy in a fit of pique called me and some friends "A bunch of bloody, lousy spics, flips and chinks." The blankness on my face was balanced by the sheer fury on those of my friends'. Each of those words was explained, in due time, by my friends, with proper and relevant historical and cultural references. In fact, there were entire classes in Berkeley's Ethnic Studies Department devoted to racism and its myriad manifestations in America, a couple of which I took, since Prof. Ron Takaki was basically a god (yet another story for some other time).

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make here is that "Flip" was supposed to cut me, and it didn't since I didn't have the shared history of other Filipino-Americans or Asian-Americans in America. So, naturally, it occurred to me to "flip" the hurtfulness of the term by using it self-referentially. Funny thing is, others in the Fil-Am community were thinking of that too, in an osmotic kinda way. Odd how those things happen in historical time isn't it? Also, my very first mentee, Breeze Murphy, was a hapa kid who called himself Flip-inino-Irish. Cute.

In any case, and as far as I can tell, the ethnic slur "Flip" is no longer so today. Now of course this may only be a Northern California thing. For all I know, it may still have the same nefarious connotations for my uncle in Chicago, IL and my aunt in Lubbock, TX. (And btw, in no way am I drawing a parallel to the much more loaded N-word, which has way deeper roots in American history than the newer lexical and cultural arrivistes.) But even if "Flip" reigns as a hate word elsewhere, at least one has to start defusing it somewhere, right?

Which brings us back, I suppose, to today's weblog issue, sponsored by the letter Q. No, not Quad. ;-) I've had quite a quicksilver qrowd of queer friends over the years. And yes, I do know that they do NOT mind referring to themselves as queer and in fact use it as a point of pride and, indeed, defusement of the word. Here in the SF Bay Area, chants in Gay Pride parades usually begin "We're Here, We're Queer..." etc. In fact, the F * * word is also used self-referentially, the way black rappers use the N word in their lyrics.

However, hate-word subversion aside, I have over the years also engaged in sharp exchanges with students over the use AND misuse of "fag" in normal conversations. Or the more common supposed witticism, "That's gay" to refer to something lame or odd or unacceptable. And yes, kids, you know who you are with whom I've had this particular conversation, in IM, e-mail or otherwise. So this isn't exactly news to you now. In any case, I'm actually glad Ozzie brought up this issue, although his means of doing so required some refinement... i.e., as in talking to Damien before his broadside was launched which would, admittedly, have changed the tone and tenor of his (Ozzie's) weblog, but it would have also bypassed some misunderstanding and negativity. Well, boys and girls, we await your considered opinions and reflections on this touchy topic. And remember, if you can't say it without being hurtful, don't. Think before you speak, and use this forum as it was meant to be: for rational, civil discussion on anything under the sun. Even on things that hurt and cut. As doing so leads to things that heal and make whole.

{ net.casting }
^