Originally posted by xneverwherex:
why is this different. you outright called me a bitch without knowing me. AND NOT A SINGLE MOD DID SHIT! miss p was the only one who said something. i didnt think it was cool - but this is getting out of control. either ban them all, or dont ban anyone. i guess im not 'popular' enough to warrant more being done.
It's different, in large part, because of intent. In a politics thread where two people are arguing back and forth and someone calls someone a name, we'll go with 'cheeky bastard,' it is obvious from the totality of the circumstances that the intent was to insult or demean the other person. When I dropped the bitch line, someone else had called you out for posting out of town shows and I quoted a television program. Looking at the totality of the circumstances, it's obvious that my intention was not to insult or demean you since (a) I was not the one arguing with you, (b) I did not agree with the person arguing with you as evidenced by the fact that 80% of the shows I post about are out-of-town shows, (c) I said I had no idea you were a woman, and (d) when it was brought to my attention that you were a woman and I had insulted you, I immediately apologized.
There's a difference between doing something with malicious intent and misguidedly trying to bring levity to an already ridiculous argument.
Additionally, I would argue certain words are generally agreed to be more offensive then others. C U Next Tuesday offends even the filthiest mouthed sailor; dumbass or bitch are rather benign by comparison. It's like they're in different tiers of curseword offensiveness.
