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- Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
- Path: sparky!uunet!think.com!spdcc!dyer
- From: dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer)
- Subject: Re: No Wise Man here (Re: *Any* kind of r.a.b split, or at least a *serious* discussion)
- Message-ID: <1992Dec26.045635.25446@spdcc.com>
- Organization: S.P. Dyer Computer Consulting, Cambridge MA
- References: <1992Dec25.091537.28480@nevada.edu> <1992Dec25.173805.6739@spdcc.com> <1992Dec25.205623.6964@nevada.edu>
- Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1992 04:56:35 GMT
- Lines: 36
-
- In article <1992Dec25.205623.6964@nevada.edu> wwhitman@nevada.edu (MICHAEL WISE) writes:
- > I fully intended to slander Ms. Stein, who might or might not take
- > offense if she were still alive (most likely, she had a tougher hide
- > than some of the rabble); fat and lazy were not meant to be literary
- > criticism, but disparaging remarks on an author I do not appreciate.
-
- Of course you realize I was speaking on behalf of the fat (and presumed lazy)
- lesbians you thereby slandered, not for Stein, who has already spoken for
- herself and whose work is open for scrutiny.
-
- > I suppose that I will have the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
- > Fat and Lazy People (Gravitationally and Motivationally Challenged?) on
- > my back before long.
-
- Where is Fiona when we need her? I know that is it dangerous to try to
- make serious talk about whimsy, even sort-of-dumb anti-"PC" semi-jokes
- written out of reflex embarassment, but I will say that "fat" is a fact
- for many people, and it is only by the grace of your genes that you
- might have escaped. Additionally, the conjuction of "fat and lazy" is
- far more common than simply "fat": and this is where unexamined
- conventional wisdom, objectively incorrect, serves to judge people
- unfairly and propagate prejudicial attitudes. Now, I'll exercise some
- uncharacteristic restraint and try not to say anything more weighty
- here on r.a.b.
-
- I hope that one day calling someone a "fat lesbian" will be as feeble
- an insult as calling someone a "tall person". But we aren't there yet.
-
- >I apologize both for my use of these terms, and for my feeble attempt
- >to justify them objectively.
-
- Thanks.
-
- --
- Steve Dyer
- dyer@ursa-major.spdcc.com aka {ima,harvard,rayssd,linus,m2c}!spdcc!dyer
-