![]() People might ask if I am a dwarf, but I do not have dwarfism so technically that’s not accurate. If I want to be treated respectfully, I should respect their wishes in kind.Īs a disabled man, this also comes into play when questions of how I am to be referred to come into play. They have made their expectations of how they wish to be treated clear. If they want me to do the same, I should simply consent to that and move on. Part of The Golden Rule is accepting that if someone refers to themselves with They/Them, He/Him, or She/Her pronouns, that is a choice they make for themselves. To circle back to the LGBT community that I am a part of, it isn’t my place to dictate how other people see themselves, or what terms they use for themselves. Regardless of which side of the divide they are on, both sets of reasoning should be discussed and valued as an integral part of the conversation. I’ve spoken to people that feel as though their African heritage is a part of them and they don’t want to separate themselves from that. ![]() I don’t have their experiences, so I won’t try to assume how that feels or the meaning behind it, but I’ve talked to people who feel the opposite. Their parents were raised here and perhaps their African ancestry is so far back that they just don’t feel quite so connected to it. They see themselves as Americans, not “African-Americans” because they were raised here. In large part, many of them identify with the term Black. I have talked to many people in the Black/African-American community in recent years and months, and I’ve gotten two separate schools of thought for how they wish to be referred. If that is the case, who am I to judge? Just because I don’t identify with that term myself doesn’t mean no one else should either. They feel more comfortable using that term for themselves and perhaps that term empowers them to be their best selves. There are people in this world who celebrate the word Queer for all sorts of reasons. However, as I grow older I realize that it isn’t about me. Why? Because in my youth it was used in a derogatory fashion and because of that, it puts a poor taste in my mouth. Personally, growing up in the South, I don’t particularly like the word Queer. I’m sure you can say the same in your life as well. It sounds simple, but if I had a dollar for every person I’ve interacted with that has ignored, forgotten, or disregarded that rule, I’d be a very rich man. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. In truth, we’ve lost sight of something that we should all be focused on: The Golden Rule. Perhaps its cultural origin is derogatory or perhaps there is a secondary meaning that makes it undesirable. Some people detest that term for various reasons. ![]() Some people rally behind it and find comfort and safety within it. In every community, there is at least one term that is divisive. I won’t speak about experiences that aren’t mine, because I don’t know everything about this subject. I’m talking about things such as Queer, Intersex, Transgender, Hermaphrodite, Black, African-American, Latino/Latina, Latinx, and so on and so forth. ![]() I’m not talking about slurs such as the N-word either. This is a good thing, it means that as people we are growing and changing.Ī lot of people get caught up in the words they like or dislike. In 8 years, the way we talk to each other, the way we identify with ourselves, and the way we see ourselves, has shifted. When I was a teenager, there wasn’t discourse about pronouns. Terminology, like language, changes, and evolves over time. Moreover, I want to discuss the terms we use for ourselves, for other people, and how we treat one another. I’m not specifically discussing the idea of personal pronouns or political correctness here. In the ever-changing world we live in, I’ve seen a lot of people nickel-and-dime each other (for lack of a better phrase) about specific terms they use. ![]()
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