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Carpal Tunnel
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And so, whilst Asians such as Indians, Iranians or Kazakhs might not consider the term Oriental a slur of any sort, it is reasonable to expect that some annoyance will be generated by this generic clubbing of races and its use might even be misconstrued as a demonstration of disinterest in other cultures.
The same can be said for the term Hispanic. I feel it's, at least, improper, if not downright insulting to lump people as culturally diverse as Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, continental Spanish, Argentinians, Filipinos, etc., all under one term, and I try to avoid using it in favor of individual descriptives or "Latin." (i.e. "of Filipino descent", etc). Hispanic is like a generic hyphen without a hyphen. That's the problem with hyphenations, for instance, African-American...where does that leave the Egyptians, the South Africans, etc? Interestingly, we are good friends with a family from Nigeria, and they are very particular about stressing their Nigerian heritage and vehemently dislike and object to the term "African-American". The same with European-American...the Greeks, the Finnish, the Russians, the Portugese, the Swedes, the Irish, etc., are just too diverse to be generically indicated.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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don't forget "white".
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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anyone?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Curiously enough, Italians aren't blanketed into the the term Hispanic, though Italian men are often referred to as Latin Lovers. And, actually, the Italians and ancient Romans are the only true Latins, so how did Latin come to mean Spanish culture? Perhaps because Spanish is more directly derived from Latin than any other language except for Italian?...Faldage? emanuela? And what is the differenece between Latin and Latino in describing Spanish-speaking people and culture? Words?You mean there are no words on this thread? What have I been reading?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sliding even further off topic: I read Phenomenal Woman, but instead of enjoying it, I was very uncomfortable all the way through it. I can't imagine...my goodness, how could anybody go around bragging on themselves like that? The concept is utterly foreign to me. No, no, no. I could never...
Back to words [gasp of relief]--is "stomacher" a word from former days? I can't see myself going up to someone and saying, "My dear, what a lovely stomacher; wherever did you get it?"
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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old hand
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old hand
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>And so, whilst Asians such as Indians, Iranians or Kazakhs might not consider the term Oriental a slur of any sort, it is reasonable to expect that some annoyance will be generated by this generic clubbing of races and its use might even be misconstrued as a demonstration of disinterest in other cultures.
Surely the same could be said for "Asian" also. A person born and bred in Vladivostok is Asian, so is a Laotian, my Anglo-Indian father, and a sabra Israeli. In what way is "Asian" a less meaningless, potentially insulting "generic clubbing" than Oriental? I read somewhere that when Japan developed its concept of the "Great East Asian Co-operation Sphere", or whatever it called its 1930s imperial dream, it borrowed the word "Asian" from English, as the concept did not exist in Japanese.
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Carpal Tunnel
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WW, the woman in the poem just walked around talking about how, er, phenomenal she is; naming off all the ways. Not for me! Eek. You can read it on the site, if you want.
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addict
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addict
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I am sorry you didn't enjoy the poem, Jackie. To me, it reads as if the author starts out in a self consciously reassuring fashion and as the words roll on, the mood effortlessly segues into one that is confident and celebratory. In an environment that constantly floods us with utopian sterotypes of beauty and perfection and where eating disorders by association, are ever on the rise, this poem seems like a gentle yet firm reminder of all the glorious diversity of beauty in the form of creation. And thus echoed Herrick's words: A sweet disorder...... ....Do more bewitch me than when art Is too precise in every part.
Thanks Jackie, for posting the poem; It was a pleasure to read.
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