What is going on with personal attacks/disablist language being left to stand?!

[JeanneDeMontbaston]

I've just seen that the term 'fucking retarded' was left to stand, and the poster who reported it was told it shouldn't be deleted.

That really shocks me and I think it's a real shame coming from MNHQ.

I saw this because the person reporting started a thread asking whether the term were acceptable or not, and it's been deleted with no explanation except that it was 'against talk guidelines'.

I know it was a TAAT (as is this), but generally, threads asking reasonable questions are left to stand for a little, with an explanation from HQ on them. I'm hoping for a better result here in Site Stuff, as it seems to me it's a pretty important question.

Are you defending a policy of not deleting insults like 'fucking retarded'? Is it now unacceptable to question that sort of thing? And does it have to do with this ongoing issue with threads about feminism - which is where the term was used, and in the context of some very nasty (undeleted) attacks on feminist posters.

The GFs have won for a bit.

i never post anything much about my child on here. having been hounded by a group of sn poster(yep really) nt able to take part in the TIMC campaign(the agist one) as dd was too old. and all the goady shit from the temp able bodied posters......I gave up.
have to say its so much better now I don't

I have just lost my nut on a thread. I shan't be posting about SN for a long time. I just can't manage to hold myself together.

Many blessing to all of you brave and outspoken people. I am honoured to be on the same forum with people who are able to speak with compassion about SN.

it seems like mn hq are on their hols as no response on this thread or to any reports

sam, they replied on this thread, apologized, and deleted the post in that was originally in question.

but the vile ons on the other thread are still there. even reporting does nothing

Maybe report this thread to give them another heads up?

I agree it's not brilliant at the moment - I just didn't want you to miss that they had responded.

Yes there are PAs on me still there. Which is nice. Spose it's Sunday rhough

how many times?? i have done it about 3 times.
all they have done is a link to TIMC thats it. disbalist stuff still there.

it seems like mn hq are on their hols as no response on this thread or to any reports

Well we've been told that there aren't many people in so I guess they are on holiday...

Imbecile is a term used to describe persons with learning difficulties

Really? I don't think so.

Really Lass? How would you define it? And how do you think it has been traditionally used?

Try googling it, lass. That usually helps when you have a very simple question that's been answered multiple times.

You are happy to use "imbecile " to describe some one with learning difficulties?

Oh and googling brings this as the first results

imbecile
??mb?si?l/?
nouninformal
noun: imbecile; plural noun: imbeciles
1.
a stupid person.
synonyms: fool, idiot, cretin, moron, dolt, halfwit, ass, dunce, dullard, simpleton, nincompoop, blockhead, ignoramus, clod; More
informaldope, thickhead, ninny, chump, dimwit, dummy, dum-dum, dumb-bell, jackass, bonehead, fathead, numbskull, dunderhead, airhead, pinhead, lamebrain, pea-brain, birdbrain, dipstick, donkey, noodle;
informalnit, nitwit, twit, numpty, clot, muppet, plonker, berk, prat, pillock, wally, wazzock, divvy;
informalbozo, turkey, goofus;
vulgar slangknobhead;
vulgar slangasshat
"I'd have to be an imbecile to do such a thing"
antonyms: genius

Lass, it used to be a medical term, in the same way that 'retarded' was (and 'idiot' for that matter)

A person of moderate to severe mental retardation having a mental age of from three to seven years and generally being capable of some degree of communication and performance of simple tasks under supervision. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive.

I know it used to be a medical term in the same way cretin and moron were. The poster I quoted seems to be suggesting it is still in use or is still acceptable - whether in it's medical sense or its common usage.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbecile

sorry, i'm not sure who you are quoting.

Jeanne and Breaca the poster I quoted said it is used to describe a person with learning difficulties. Not was in distant and less unenlightened times.

This is the full post from the first page. No reference to it being historic use. And it's a vile term anyway. If cretin and moron are unacceptable imbecile is no better. They all stem from what I understand is now discredited categorisation from the US in the early part of the last century.

Staywithme

Imbecile is a term used to describe persons with learning difficulties whereas thicko is a term used to describe someone who behaves in a silly way. Thicko is not a term used to describe someone with learning difficulties. The point of moving on as a civilised society is learning not to use terms that offend those of colour, religion, those with a disability. Where do you suggest we draw the line Purdie?

It's from Staywithme when she responded to Purdie (a notoriously outspoken poster) on p1. Lass, i do not think Staywithme finds the term acceptable. Here's the post in full:

"Imbecile is a term used to describe persons with learning difficulties whereas thicko is a term used to describe someone who behaves in a silly way. Thicko is not a term used to describe someone with learning difficulties. The point of moving on as a civilised society is learning not to use terms that offend those of colour, religion, those with a disability. Where do you suggest we draw the line Purdie?"

X post.

Given Purdie had just implied she thought imbecile and Thicko were on a par and both acceptable, or os clear to me from the context that Stay disagreed on imbecile.

Stay had just stated that moron was used to freely and this was Purdie's response:
"I agree regarding the word retarded but moron....where do you draw the line? What about imbecile? Thicko? I see lots of use of the word thicko and yet I know to some mn-ers the term idiot is offensive."

It would have been better to use "was". Stay responded to Purdie's question in the present tense. It's not clear to me Stay was disagreeing; she is distinguishing it from "thicko" which is unacceptable.

It's very clear from the context, Lass.

It's interesting how often your interpretation is different from the majority. I don't know if that's perhaps p an artefact of a job where everything must be very precisely worded.