Misery wrote:
Edenthiel wrote:
Self-irony is a world apart from inflicted name calling, though. Mostly, it's a matter of who has power or control. People who would do such a thing (call someone any sort of difference as a slight) have learned that they can gain power by pushing others down & by putting someone into a group that they consider "less than", their ego gets a bullying two-fer.
It used to be okay for Ableists to do that. Racists will do it, too. And over the years I've watched this happen with LGBT people & homophobes/transphobes. But there was a turning point where it was clearly no longer tolerated as an attempt to harm someone. All it took was other people calling them out on it.
Call the idiots out on it every chance you get.
That doesnt work on the internet though. If that's where this is happening. I guarantee you, 99% of the time, there's no point in calling someone out on it if it happens on the Net. Why? A couple of reasons. A: They wont learn a damn thing, because they dont care, and B: it's what they WANT you to do. They think that reaction from you is HILARIOUS, and chances are, they've already got a followup barrage of insults ready to be fired the moment someone calls them out, so they can get even more fun. This is how trolls think. Always has been, always will be.
And it really is best not to give the trolls what they want. It just gives them even more opportunities to get more of it.
I'm not trying to change the trolls or troglodytes (or troglobites, for that matter). I'm doing it to educate the other people who read the thread, to reinforce the social idea that it's not okay and let any of those being targeted know that there are people out there who won't stand for it. It's sorta like when trolls show up so very predictably any time there's a story about anyone who is different yet harms no one; they throw out a bunch of really harmful word bombs which would otherwise go unchallenged. Those are excellent opportunities for other people to then educate the world on the issue & why it was wrong, and even harmful to post what they did. For every troll answered, maybe ten, maybe a hundred people get educated and maybe a few watch their wording a little more carefully going forward. A few minds might be changed. That is progress, and how cultures and mores are slowly changed, and I sometimes even thank the troll for granting the opportunity to teach so many people who were previously unaware. They are the ones who will make a difference; the trolls are highly unlikely to change.
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“For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love.”
―Carl Sagan
15 Nov 2015, 10:54 pm
