Anyone else find this pretty ignorant and offensive

[Herdingcows]

Advert for a local company popped up on my fb, what were they thinking!

I think it matters to them because they see it as a form of censorship Bert. There was a thread here a few years ago when Stephen Fry wrote an article about people taking offense at stuff. IIRC it was quite an interesting read.

Offense is subjective as this thread has shown. It's ok to be offended by stuff and it's ok for someone else not to be offended by it

This, exactly.

I'd still like to know why some people get so angry with people who are bothered about this sort of thing. Why does it matter to them

I haven't seen anything to suggest that anyone is remotely angry.

I think it matters to them because they see it as a form of censorship ... There was a thread here a few years ago when Stephen Fry wrote an article about people taking offense at stuff. IIRC it was quite an interesting read.

That's it, Dione That's what I was trying to say a few pages ago. That sums it up very well!

I remember that one. There were a small number of posters arguing essentially that we should all always avoid saying anything that anyone might find offensive (iirc). I thought that meant that none of us would ever be able to speak ever again and got a bit of a kicking for that point!

But nobody is trying to censor anyone. People are, up to a point, completely free to say and write whatever they like. You can choose to use OCD as a synonym for 'tidy' or 'hygienic' or whatever, but it doesn't mean that you then have immunity from people's responses to it. I woke up with a spot on my chin this morning and could choose, if I liked, to go around saying, 'Oh no - I've got skin cancer, LOL!' and not give a shit who I offend, but, by the same token, people have a right to tell me I am being a twat when I do. It's not censorship, it's consideration, and you don't have to be considerate if you choose not to.

But nobody is trying to censor anyone

I'm almost sure at least one post suggested messaging the company involved and telling them they should take down the pic with the phrase on it, which would certainly constitute and attempt at censorship, no?

I think Stephen Fry would be a bit surprised to find himself the poster child for the mocking, however mildly, of mental health issues.........

Is there a difference between censorship and asking someone to remove a poster that could cause unnecessary upset?

I wouldn't be offended at all and would find it quite funny.

However I can see certain people especially who have OCD could get offended over this...

It's just a joke.
Not in the least offended

I don't think he would, he likes to make jokes about it himself.

Is there a difference? I'm not sure. It fits the dictionary definition of the word, if it isn't censorship what is it? And where do you draw the line?

I can't get upset over it.

I haven't seen anything to suggest that anyone is remotely angry.

How about the use of the term 'professionally offended', 'PC nonsense' and people saying things like, 'I'm sick of being told what to be offended by'?

I think Stephen Fry would be irritated by this thread, actually.
He said....

If I had a large amount of money I should certainly found a hospital for those whose grip upon the world is so tenuous that they can be severely offended by words and phrases and yet remain all unoffended by the injustice, violence and oppression that howls daily about our ears

Censorship is imposed. Asking somebody to reconsider is not censorship.

Fry is very publically a person with mental health issues. If he chooses to joke about them, then that is his right.

How about the use of the term 'professionally offended

Actually it was professionally UNoffended, the crossness seemed to be at those who weren't offended!

Fry is very publically a person with mental health issues. If he chooses to joke about them, then that is his right

For arguments sake, what if the person who used the phrase actually has OCD? Would we not be having this discussion?

I thought that meant that none of us would ever be able to speak ever again and got a bit of a kicking for that point! That would be my conclusion, too!

Imagine trying to come to any sort of compromise without even vaguely offending the other party:

A: Would you...
B: Yes... but
A: Oh no, then...
B: Well, yes
A: Was that..
B: No, yes I DON'TFUCKINGKNOWANYMORE!!!

Yeah, well, then if Fry came on this thread, I would point out that a) nobody has said they were severely offended about the cake poster, b) that it is perfectly possible to care about small things as well as big ones and c) it is also possible to ignore the drip drip of little issues until one day you suddenly realize that you have a massive, overspilling bucketful.

I don't think it's always just an intellectual disagreement with 'censorship'. Sometimes it is people not understanding that an action they think is fine would be hurtful to someone else. This can be simply because they have too little empathy to put themselves in other peoples shoes. Or, conversely, because they have too much empathy and feel other people's hurt too deeply, so try not to. Or they actually understand it but choose not to acknowledge it (even to themselves) out of laziness - as they then would need to rethink their own actions and attitudes.

I'm not trying to get at anyone on this thread by the way. Almost everyone has areas in which they're like this. I've definitely discovered some in myself and am working on it.

Great post Page

ofgs, it's very slightly amusing.

For the lover of jokes poking fun at mental illness maybe, Eightieth

I used to have an extreme obsession with gas when I was a child. I won't go in to details but it was not mild or slight. I couldn't go in to a building if its heating was gas. I smelled or imagined I smelled gas everywhere. I'd get so panicky I'd faint. I got over it. I'm still anxious. its being compared/classified as a mental illness would have made me even more anxious tbh.

Eightieth

Yeh, OCD is fucking hilarious. Being paralysed with fear because you think any tiny mistake will kill all the people you love. Obsessing over news stories about paedophiles to such an extent you worry that you just might be one. Feeling compulsions to make inappropriate sexual advances towards people. Convincing yourself that you have to kill yourself because you drove past a motorway bridge and felt the urge to drive your car off it.

Does it seem funny now?