should we remove asperger's jokes y/n

[TheNewTeddy]

this came up in the IRC


as I see it the whole current prevailing argument is "someone could be offended by this, all the aspies have said it doesn't offend it (or that it's borderline) but their opinion does not matter, it might offend someone, somewhere, somewhen, and we already said the vote does not count, so we are just going to toss the entire thing, and stop these jokes"

Reading the last 3 pages this is the clear impression I get.

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just to make clear WHY I feel that way:

Honestly I never had connected half of those things before, and I even had heard the assburgers joke in a different context.

I feel this way and from what I can gather many people felt the same as well.

I worked 2 1/2 years as a caregiver for people with various mental and intellectual disabilities, and I've definitely seen how ableism can be a real thing in several forms

There's an argument that this is somehow ableism, but there's no evidence provided at all.

popecrunch

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Despite our pretty good track record of removing homophobic / racist / sexist / etc.-ist stuff from the game

 It is a good track record, so I'm going to say yes on removal.

This is comparing benign terms to words like n***** or f*****. As I write that I frankly find that offensive, but can't really explain why or how.

I thought the ass-items were butt puns. Shows what I know. And that sperghetti was a doofy spelling.

I mostly object to 'sperging out' being used to describe throwing a fit or lashing out.

This explains my feelings word for word. I agree with 100% of this.

My opinion is while it's hypocritical, I don't believe that autistic people would be that offended by this. I assume most would be trying to blend in and not immediately announce that they have autism by deeming something offensive.

Yes, you are right, that is offensive. I am very open about my autism, and to suggest that everyone with autism is just lying because they have autism is fucking moronic.

I wanna say, though I am voting for the removal, I agree that it's really not that bad, or that anyone is a bad person or anything for not being bothered by it.

I'm more just arguing for a consistent hand across these things.

Consistent with what? That "Aspie" is equal to "N*****" or "F*****"

This is tied into a much larger issue: one of empathy for others. Someone has already stated how they struggled in the past when coming to terms with their doagnosis as having Asperger's.


There's a question we should ask ourselves:
Do we desire to bevome a haven where people can play a game in an environment where they don't receive the typical harassment so commonly found in our day to day lives OR do we say "nah screw it, we think it's funny, so deal."

The fact that we already ban folks for using bigoted language speaks volumes in what direction we should take this (I would hope). I don't think this is necessarily  something folks should be getting banned over but a light reminder that, hey it won't be tolerated if you continue with this behaviour, would be refreshing. Same goes for calling people retards, schizo, etc.

Our society's view are slowly adapting to become more accepting and inclusive of others. I'd hate to see goonstation make the same backward movement my country has just made.

Again, there is the assumption that

A - this is somehow offensive, when nobody has yet explained how or why
and
B - these terms are thus equal to other 'bad words'

As someone with Asperger's(technically classified as on the autism scale right now...)

I've considered both sides. Sperg is generally something that is usually used as slang(stop being such a sperg), and is honestly frequently enough used as a slur degrading people that I think it would be removed. As for assburgers, while it isn't used as much as sperg, it's still used frequently enough as a slur and to disparage people who are socially inept that I think it should be removed as well.

Asspies is on the fence, and is rarely used as a slur against me and others, but should be changed for a similar reason as assburgers.

While the puns are amusing, and I am overall okay with the description(I am definitely awkward and find humor in said descriptions), I think there is far too much emotional baggage associated with the terms sperg and assburgers to stay as they are. It would be like calling a cigarette a 'nig'. While again I appreciate the pun and find humor in the description, both terms have in my experience been used as slurs against me and others(albeit indirectly about someone who is socially awkward in general).

I'm not sure what world you live in or communites you go to, but aspie has always been seen as fine (and yes, I've been to massive asperger driven online communities) while "sperg" has always been borderline offensive, if not on the offensive side of said line.

This is what I was driving at.

Also, the argument of, "I have Asperger's so it's okay because I'm not offended," is EXACTLY the same as someone saying, "I'm black or gay and I'm not offended by these pejoratives." An excuse that won't stop you from being banned in such cases.

again, we compare these bullshit words that are not even offensive to words that everyone here agrees actually are offensive.

I've also said I'm not trying to guilt or shame anyone for their opinion here

No, other people are doing that.

For serious right there in the original post i said that it wasn't necessarily going to be binding

Given what's above, I feel that this post translates into

"We are going to remove it no matter what the vote says"

Generally while I'm okay with the descriptions poking fun at Aspergers, the names are again used as a slur which makes it unacceptable IMO. Even changing 'ass' to 'butt' would remove the slur.

Again, this, from my experience in online asperger communities, is untrue. Aspie is not an offensive term. I've even met up in person with people who have aspergers, and our group was called "aspies"

Change my vote to 'remove', we've got someone with Aspergers saying its not OK. And besides, butt is a more inherently funny word.

And this is where I throw up my hands and stop giving a fuck.

If this is how people really feel, just remove all of it. I really don't care. If my opinion does not matter, then why the fuck was a thread made asking me what that opinion is.