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

[elf]

At its least offensive, it means "outlaw who should be killed on sight; deserving of no human decency; having no right to exist." The meaning of "outlaw" has been drastically shifted over the last few hundred years.

It was used to describe monsters, sexual deviants, evil sorcerers, and deformed people, on the theory that one's soul was visible in one's body.

As an insult, it's as strong, if not stronger, than the other n-words that might've been thrown around.

(On "draggle-tailed," I have no opinion; Elizabethan/Victorian insults are mostly opaque to me. But "nithing" is actively used in modern Pagan communities--to describe child molesters and rapists.)

[laura-holt-pi.livejournal.com]

That modern pagans misuse the word is neither here nor there.

I know very well the meaning of the concept of outlaw, and you're wrong. It means someone who has done something that puts him or her outside the protection of society. It has had that meaning for well over a thousand years.

It's not a pleasant thing to call someone, but having seen some of the disgusting (and, in many cases sexist) abuse aimed at the woman in question, I'm not surprised she doesn't want to be polite.

(frozen comment)

[elspethdixon.livejournal.com]

I can understand that she and her husband are both upset, but her post went beyond simply not being polite. It was openly insulting, even if you use the mildest interpretations of "draggle-tailed/nithing/etc."

Also, while I've seen quite a bit of criticism of her (much of it deserved), some of which is very harsh, I haven't seen anything that I would call sexist. Though I also haven't been reading everything.