[HPFGU-OTChatter] "Mudblood"

[Wendy St. John]

Well, Ive had two responses so far to my post about how I find using the 
term Mudblood rather offensive  one for, and one against. I must say that 
I *much* prefer Melodys response, as she agrees with me! <G>

So THANKS! to Melody, who wrote:

It should not be used flippantly, in my opinion, when "muggle-born" is a 
much nicer word to use and does not carry the baggage of mudblood".  Can we 
make an appeal on the main site to not use "mudblood" in vain?

But then again, maybe I too am taking HP too seriously.  But then
again, don't we all?

Now me:

Yes! Melody  I think many of us *do* take it very seriously (more on this 
below, in my response to Audra). Im glad Im not the only one! <G> And Im 
not sure whether or not an appeal on the main list would be appropriate  
thats why I posted this on the OT list  I wanted to say something to bring 
it to peoples attention, but Im not sure if its appropriate for the main 
list or not (thats a question for the mods, I suppose). I dont want to be 
the bad language police or anything <g>, I just wanted to express that its 
something *Ive* noticed, and thought that others might as well. Plus, 
perhaps there are people using the term thoughtlessly, who might choose not 
to use it if they really thought through the context of the word within the 
Potterverse. I suppose we could tag little comments to the end of our posts, 
though, just as an eye-opener to those who might not have considered this 
before. Hey  Im for this, if you are! :-)

Then again, Melody, not *everyone* agrees with us . . .


Audra wrote:

Yes, you *are* taking it far to seriously, IMO. You're blurring the line 
between fiction and reality.  The word "Mudblood" means nothing to us in 
reality.  The "N" word--if you can even compare it to that--has a history 
for for us in the real world, and is offensive to people in the real world.  
"Mudblood" is not an offensive term in the real world. It is a made-up 
offensive term in a book.

Why are you getting sensitive to it?  Are you a muggleborn witch? No.  Do 
you know or know of any muggleborn witches or wizards for whom you feel 
sensitive?   Not in the real world.  You're elevating the fictional 
characters to the state of real people, and sympathizing with them.

Now me:
I dont think Im blurring the line between reality and fiction. That makes 
me sound a bit daft, which I probably am, but not in *that* way! <G>.  I 
*do* know that Mudblood is not a real-world term. However, within the 
context of the Harry Potter books, it is a highly offensive term, and the 
purpose of these lists is to discuss the Harry Potter books. One of reasons 
so many of us enjoy the Harry Potter books is that the world JKR has created 
seems so very *real*. The characters are interesting and well-developed, and 
many of us are able to relate to them in a meaningful way. So youre right 
that I am sympathising with fictional characters, but I think thats the 
whole point. If I didnt care about these characters, I wouldnt be very 
interested in reading nor discussing the books, now, would I? And Im sure 
Im not the only one here who feels like that. So, Im sympathising  yes. 
But that doesnt mean that Ive elevated them to the state of real people. I 
do still know the difference (most days, anyway <g>). At times, the 
situations in the books remind me of things in real life (again, isnt that 
what makes it interesting?), and discussing these things can be, for me, a 
way of thinking about real-world issues, as well. But, having said all that, 
there are also reasons *aside* from the Potterverse why the word makes me 
feel uncomfortable.

Of course the N word has a historical context in the real world, and as I 
said, my reaction to it is *much* stronger than to the term Mudblood. And, 
no, Im not a Muggle-born witch, so the term Mudblood doesnt offend me as 
a personal insult. By the same token, Im a white woman, so the N word 
isnt personally offensive to me in that way, either. As for knowing any 
Muggleborn witches for whom I feel sensitive, obviously not  but then I 
also dont think Ive ever been in a situation where Ive heard someone call 
a black person a n*gger in front of me. That still doesnt mean I dont 
find the term *highly* offensive when used in my presence, whether or not 
there is anyone in the room who might be personally offended. Its more a 
matter of what I perceive to be the sensitivity of the person speaking. And 
if you dont like the parallel between Mudblood and the N word, there are 
others I could make. I know a woman who calls eating at a Chinese restaurant 
going for a Chinkie. That bugs me, not because Im personally offended 
by the term (not being Chinese, either), but because it leads me to believe 
that she is, at best, insensitive (or perhaps ignorant), and at worst, a 
bigot.

The point is that there are certain words which are known in our culture to 
be offensive. And when people use those words, they can expect for others to 
have a reaction based on the relative appropriateness of the language. The 
same applies to swear words, IMO. If I were to go around peppering my casual 
conversations with words like f*ck and sh*t, people would make judgements 
about me based on my choice of language. Which would certainly be my 
prerogative, should I choose to speak like that, but then I also shouldnt 
complain when people make assumptions about me based on my choice of words. 
In the example I use above regarding Chinese food, this woman is only 
someone Ive spoken to twice, so I really dont know much about her 
attitudes and personality. She seems like a nice person, and maybe she just 
doesnt know that Chinkie could be perceived as offensive. And if she was 
someone with whom I knew Id be having more contact in the future (a 
co-worker, or in-law, for example), then I would probably try and discuss 
the matter with her to find out why shes using this term. Does she know 
that its offensive? And maybe it isnt within her (Scottish) culture. Im 
an American living here, and some things *are* different. But since I will 
probably never see this particular person again, I wont have the 
opportunity to find out. And I dont hate her or anything, but I do have 
less respect and liking for her than I would otherwise have had.

Thats the same feeling I get here when someone uses Mudblood 
gratuitously. Not that the term is personally offensive to me  but it does 
make me wonder about the sensitivity of the poster. And yes, I do see your 
point that it is not a real-world term, and therefore would not be offensive 
if I were to say it in the middle of the supermarket, for example. Youre 
right - in our real world culture, it doesnt have any meaning. But I 
suggest that within the culture of the HP for Grownups lists, it *does* have 
meaning and it *is* an offensive term. On these lists, weve all read the 
books and know the context of the term, and understand that it is meant to 
be highly offensive, and not a term one commonly hears in polite society. 
(Unfortunately, my books are unavailable right now, so I cant quote the 
exact words from CoS  Im experiencing movie poisoning, having a vision of 
Hermione in tears in Hagrids hut).

Fact is, I dislike the use of the term, and I will continue to do so. And of 
course, you can disagree with me, if you like, and think Im taking things 
too seriously. But Ill probably decide that youre not the worlds most 
sensitive soul because of it! LOL! And, while I was a bit put off by your 
post the first time I read it, Audra, (I do think you were perhaps a bit 
harsh with me. I dont have the HP audio tapes, after all <G>) it did help 
me think through more deeply *why* the word bothers me, and Ive come to the 
conclusion that it really *does* bother me. Which doesnt mean that anyone 
else on this list has to care or do anything different. Im not asking that, 
at all. But the use of the term will continue to have an affect on the way I 
perceive the people who use it, which can be said for lots and lots of 
things here on the list, right? And at least Ive said something about it, 
which, whether it has an affect on anyone or anything else, at least makes 
me feel better about having gotten it off my chest.

:-)
Wendy






_________________________________________________________________
STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* 
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail