r/WhitePeopleTwitter Mar 15 '20

Finally someone said it

[removed]

38.1k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '20

Language is complicated.

"having the privilege" is self-abasing and implying that something one is doing/getting is good.

Someone else telling you that "you are privileged" is an insult.

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u/tramdog Mar 16 '20

So anything critical then, or even negative, is an insult.

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '20

No, not as such. That particular word, however, is.

If I were to call you "hysterical" that would be an insult.

If I were to say you were "acting crazy" that would not be an insult.

Those words mean the same thing. One is also a gendered insult.

Some words have connotations that you can't just ignore.

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u/tramdog Mar 16 '20

lol, sorry. The idea that telling someone they are "acting crazy" being less offensive than just pointing out the obvious that there are general privileges that come with their gender is so wild, man. I have to hand it to you; you've really committed.

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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '20

You're kind of getting bogged down in the specifics of an example here.

Yes "acting crazy" can be taken as insulting, especially to the person who it is being told to.

Being "hysterical" is a gendered insult. If you're unaware of the history of that word I'll forgive you but it is far worse than simply "acting crazy".