I think what's really bothering me (as above in my response to 'wulf) is that now every time I open the door for a woman because she's behind me (something I do for guys too), or give one a hand with something, I am now continually wondering if I'm coming across as a creepy guy. I've started to wonder if this is how those little gestures, which I do mostly because I like being of use to people, come across. Maybe I should smack them, just to make it clear that I'm not going down that path.
The other thing I don't like is the appropriation of a very general, and very broad term. To take a more politicized example, it's like saying "I don't like Feminists, and by Feminists, I mean women who believe they are entitled to flaunt the rules simply because of their gender". It may be slang, but it is taking a very large term and twisting it to mean, not only a rational opposite, but something that excludes the original definition, without actually having enough following to rearrange the actual meaning of the word. It does create an odd kind of Doublespeak.
And I'm probably bothered because several people have told me I'm nice. Some of them were women, and women I'm not actually related to. I wonder if that was a subtle signal that they would prefer it if I stopped talking to them (I can't do subtle - hell, I can't pick up hints at all (see Socially Deficient in the dictionary), so it's not entirely unreasonable to believe they were thinking this).
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Date: 2007-08-16 04:29 am (UTC)The other thing I don't like is the appropriation of a very general, and very broad term. To take a more politicized example, it's like saying "I don't like Feminists, and by Feminists, I mean women who believe they are entitled to flaunt the rules simply because of their gender". It may be slang, but it is taking a very large term and twisting it to mean, not only a rational opposite, but something that excludes the original definition, without actually having enough following to rearrange the actual meaning of the word. It does create an odd kind of Doublespeak.
And I'm probably bothered because several people have told me I'm nice. Some of them were women, and women I'm not actually related to. I wonder if that was a subtle signal that they would prefer it if I stopped talking to them (I can't do subtle - hell, I can't pick up hints at all (see Socially Deficient in the dictionary), so it's not entirely unreasonable to believe they were thinking this).