"Mudblood"

[Wendy St. John]

Hello, Everyone,

The recent "Loaded Language" posts have reminded me of something I've been 
noticing lately on the main HPFGUs list - a use of language which I am 
coming to find offensive, and I'm wondering if anyone else feels the same:

I have noticed people using the term "mudblood" to refer to muggle-born 
students. Not in discussing the way someone like Lucius or Voldemort might 
feel about them, but just as way to describe this part of the Hogwarts 
student population. For example, "How do Mudbloods get Wizarding money to 
buy their school supplies?" Although it is not a real world term, and 
therefore doesn't have the same level of emotional "charge" that hearing a 
word like "nig**r" does for me, in the context of the books, it is meant to 
be every bit as foul as the use of the "n" word is in real life. So why are 
people using it in this manner when posting?

The first time I noticed someone use "mudblood" in this way, that was all I 
did . . . notice. But after seeing it a few more times, I started wondering 
about the people writing the posts. Do they mean to sound offensive? Do they 
feel Muggle-born students are somehow "less" than purebloods? I find that I 
am becoming very put off by the term, and it colours my feelings about the 
posters themselves - similar to the way I feel about people who use the "n" 
word in conversation, although to a lesser degree. (Anyone who uses that 
term in casual conversation is pretty much instantly written off by me as 
someone I don't want to know. Am I being intolerant myself?)

My mind tells me that the posters using the term in this way are not trying 
to be offensive, or portray a bigoted attitude about Muggle-born students. 
But every time I read it in a post, there's a part of me which is becoming 
more and more sensitive to it. Am I just taking this waaaaay too seriously? 
<G> Or has anyone else noticed and/or felt this way about it? I'm not 
suggesting that we put a ban on the term "Mudblood" on the list, but it does 
make me wonder about the level of awareness and sensitivity of the people 
who choose to use the word in what now strikes me as an offensive manner.

:-)
Wendy
(Who fears she is taking the Potterverse far too seriously! <g>).

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