Holy mother of God *is horrified*

[elspethdixon]

Oh my God, every time I wincingly look back at the ongoing Cultural Appropriation bitchfight of doom, it gets worse. I'm not otherwise going to get involved, but here, I just couldn't help myself.

So, for those, like me, who hadn't seen or heard about Teresa Hayden's post wherein she expresses her anger over people badmouthing her husband (at least, that's what I assume she was doing from the descriptions - I haven't read any of the stuff involving him, either, but apparently he said things that offended people, refused to appologize when called on it, and then deleted his journal because people were yelling at him): Holy fuck, she calls fans of color and those who support them nithings.

In terms of offensiveness, as a former student of old English? Fuck, people, that's, well, not as horrible as the other n-word (which, please God, I hope no one's actually said), but it's pretty god-awful. Like, enough that I was reduced to staring at my computer screen in horror.

She has basically stated that all the people who disagree with her husband (including but not limited to, fans of color) are hateful, malicious, deformed, insane, sexually deviant, possibly cannablistic, sub-human or less-than human things. Because that's what that word means. It means monster. It means Not-a-Person. It means Grendal in Beowulf, the Ring-Wraiths in LotR, the in-bred, cannabalistic degenerate monsters in Lovecraft's "The Lurking Fear."

That's what she's saying fans of color are. Maybe she doesn't really know what the word means and implies, but even if she just thinks it's an old spelling of "nothing" that would be offensive all on it's own.

And to think I used to respect her so much...

ETA: Apparently, there are differences between the Old Norse and Old English definitions, with the Norse one being a far worse insult and the Anglo-Saxon version being a little less on the digusting monster side and more on the outlaw side (see the discussion of several people with more expert knowledge than me in comments). Both versions are still insults, though.

Comments

[elspethdixon.livejournal.com]

This is fandom, where obscure knowledge is a way of life. The chances that some of the people she was insulting would know *exactly* what she meant are pretty much 100%. I would bet money that at least one fan involved in this debate speaks/reads Old English fluently, and I doubt I'd lose said money.

So I'm wondering if she intended for people to get exactly what she was saying, or if she assumed it was an obscure enough term that the people she was insulting wouldn't know it (nevermind that some of those people have advanced degrees in the humanities).

[skywardprodigal.livejournal.com]

I would bet money that at least one fan involved in this debate speaks/reads Old English fluently, and I doubt I'd lose said money.

Agreed. I'd lay money that her insults specifically targeted educated geeks-of-color.

[sodzilla.livejournal.com]

My bet would be that she 1) KNEW damn well someone would realize what it meant, because she's not stupid, and 2) because MOST people wouldn't know what it meant, she'd be able to add insult to... well, insult, by dismissing those people who objected.

But then, my opinion of TNH right now is as low as a very low thing.