[LMB] OT: Chavs and dealing with insults AKICOTL

[Azalais Aranxta]

On Wed, 4 Jul 2007, Phil Boswell wrote:

> On 04/07/07, Rachel Ganz <rachel at compromise.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
> [snip]
> > Any suggestions for suitable responses? (From her or me)
>
> Well, in case she's feeling wounded, you could remind her that Billie
> Piper's character Rose on Doctor Who was called a "chav", and look how
> beloved she is.

I once dropped someone from my friends list on LJ for repeatedly
calling Rose a "chav" especially since her main reason for doing
so was that Rose isn't Romana.  It just really forced me to
realise how small-minded and unpleasant she was getting.

I've taken that "chav" test online and I come out as about half
chav simply because I come from the American South and lived with
people from Hong Kong and got into their habit of eating canned
luncheon meat, which I didn't stop doing until I eliminated pork
from my diet.  This despite the fact that I never in my life have
owned an item of fake Burberry plaid and have never yet, sadly,
even been to the UK.

There are people in my family who say the 'n' word.  I hate it so
much I can't type it even to talk about the word rather than use
it, but more to the point, I have always felt (and told them so)
that it says a lot more about them than it does about the people
they are talking about.

Unfortunately, "Using that word tells me more about you than it
does about anyone you're talking about," doesn't make a very good
playground retort because it is such an adult thing to say.

The best response to insults is not to be visibly bothered by
them and in fact to completely ignore the person doing it.  This
is difficult to do and as a kid, I could never manage it myself,
but it actually is quite effective if you can manage it;  people
hate to be ignored, but there is no need to continue interacting
with people who have to resort to name-calling to communicate
their disapproval.

On the other hand I have to say, I don't get upset when one of my
young trans friends in the UK says he has trouble with chavs in
his (formerly her) area trying to beat him up, I suppose for the
same reason I don't get mad when people from West Virginia who
are gay complain about "redneck" gaybashers.  I come from West
Virginia and I know what they mean--I just hope I'm not related
to any of them. :/

~malfoy :)

****************************************************************
Azalais Aranxta (~malfoy)
ataniell93 on LiveJournal and Vox
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/malfoymadness

"I know the true world, and you know I do. But we needn't let it
think we all bow down." --Christopher Morley