It’s not so much “harm” as it’s a pointer towards the messed-up worldviews that some folk seem to have that requires them to try to make everything bland and uniforn and unoffensive.
The proper response to this for someone in the actual area where it’s in force is to make gingerbread men with distinct junk, and make it clear that they are gingerbread *men.*
Politically correct language is spreading to other countries, alas. In German-speaking Switzerland there was recently an item in the newspaper concerning pedestrian crossings, “Fussgängerstreifen”, literally “pedestrian stripes”. However, unlike the English word, the ER termination to Fussgänger makes it clear that the pedestrians are male. Sexist! The word should be changed to Zebrastreifen! Well, I haven’t seen many zebras crossing the street in Bern but, recently, an elephant escaped and went walking around Zurich. I said to my wife that it was almost certainly the idea of some socialist woman. I was right.
“Zebra stripes?” isn’t that speciesist against other striped species? In fact, isn’t that *explicitly* speciesist against species *without* stripes?
Seriously, though… isn’t it about time that languages with “gender” drop that nonsense? “Die/Der/Das.” What’s wrong with one single word for “the?” I can understand Eskimo having a hundred different words for “snow,” but three words for “the?”
Silly, but what’s the harm? What would this be part of the slippery slope TO, pray tell?
It’s not so much “harm” as it’s a pointer towards the messed-up worldviews that some folk seem to have that requires them to try to make everything bland and uniforn and unoffensive.
The proper response to this for someone in the actual area where it’s in force is to make gingerbread men with distinct junk, and make it clear that they are gingerbread *men.*
Politically correct language is spreading to other countries, alas. In German-speaking Switzerland there was recently an item in the newspaper concerning pedestrian crossings, “Fussgängerstreifen”, literally “pedestrian stripes”. However, unlike the English word, the ER termination to Fussgänger makes it clear that the pedestrians are male. Sexist! The word should be changed to Zebrastreifen! Well, I haven’t seen many zebras crossing the street in Bern but, recently, an elephant escaped and went walking around Zurich. I said to my wife that it was almost certainly the idea of some socialist woman. I was right.
> The word should be changed to Zebrastreifen!
“Zebra stripes?” isn’t that speciesist against other striped species? In fact, isn’t that *explicitly* speciesist against species *without* stripes?
Seriously, though… isn’t it about time that languages with “gender” drop that nonsense? “Die/Der/Das.” What’s wrong with one single word for “the?” I can understand Eskimo having a hundred different words for “snow,” but three words for “the?”