Friday, January 13, 2017

UW lists 'you guys,' 'ugly' among 'offensive' terms to avoid

UW lists 'you guys,' 'ugly' among 'offensive' terms to avoid:
Image result for 'offensive' terms to avoid"The University of Wisconsin, River Falls is cracking down on potentially offensive language by telling students to “check yourself” before using terms such as “illegal alien,” “ugly,” or even “you guys.”
According to the guide, the word "ugly" can be "connected back to white supremacist, ableist, sizeist standards of beauty,” while saying "you guys" “erases the identities of those who are in the room.”
...In fact, the school has launched a “Check Yourself Educational Campaign” to help students “educate [themselves] about language and the histories of oppression,” even providing an extensive list of terms and phrases to avoid so as not to offend their peers.
“[the term 'ugly'] can be connected back to white supremacist, ableist, sizeist standards of beauty.”  
...it goes on to warn students against such common colloquialisms as “you guys,” which apparently “erases the identities of those who are in the room” and can have the effect of “generalizing a group of people to be masculine...”

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