... to tell my friend she's mental?

[MrsSchue]

I've just watched her finish a packet of crisps and then carefully pop the empty packet into her bra.

When I queried this, she tells me 'she always puts her rubbish in her bra'....

Well both, if you like, but I meant the mental thing - however, gingerist comments upset some people (threads come up about once every 2 months on whether or not gingerism is akin to racism) so could still count. There is a feeling among several posters that MNHQ do not take disablist comments seriously and do not always delete them, however upsetting or offensive they are. So, since there is a move towards asking MNHQ to keep on top of this, and asking other posters to be more sensitive towards such language, it is worth letting people know that others might find it offensive and please could they moderate their usage. Of course, most mannerly people would say "sure, didn't realise, no probs, won't use it again" rather than insist that they have every right to use it, regardless of whom it upsets.

EmpressOfTheSevenOceans Yes you may but only if you keep it in your bra . . . it's all warm and fluffy like a giant caterpillar!

roflmao it tickles!

Thumbwitch I do get surprised at the amount of gingerist comments generally and how they seem to be fair game. Can't understand it. You can't take the piss out of someones skin colour but you can their hair colour . . . anyway that's undoutably a different thread!

I can imagine that the mental thing is something I would of said when I first came on here not thinking it might offend people.

If you clap twice it does a little dance

Dear God, what do you PUT on your eyebrows??!!

thank you for understanding (had ginger hair and suffered for it at school - tis less ginger now but still get occasional comments)

SayCoolNowSayWhip [laughs]

I've had a mental illness called depression, and I'm not keen on MrsShue's use of the word like that.

I'm not offended, as in my feelings hurt.

But in the long run using the same word as an insult and as a technical term simply attaches the derogatory connotations to the illness (like it's not bad enough already). And in the long term that impacts seriously on people's lives eg wrt social acceptability, or funding for medical care, or behaviour by colleagues.

Oh, and I object to "gay" and "woman" being used as insults too - have heard both used to straight men, intended purely as random insults.

Thumbwitch Oh! Didn't realise you were a red head/have ginger hair (whichever you prefer it to be referred to as). It's not right is it?! I don't get it, I really don't. When I hear people saying horrible things about it I want to punch them in the face. My grandmother had red hair and my dads beard grows ginger (although not the hair on his head weirdly, must be an Irish thing) and so I did wonder if I might have a red head child and would have murdered anyone who said anything negative about it. As it is I have one dark brunette and one almost white blond (no idea where that came from!)

So it does!