Dewald Swanepoel wrote:
Where are these published? I know where the forum rules are published but I couldn't find any references to specific terms. If I had known the word "pansy" was specifically forbidden I would most certainly not have used it. In fact, if I had known it was a perjorative term I would not have used it. I'm not English speaking and I honestly thought it was an innocuous term to describe a guy that doesn't behave very guy-like.
Perhaps my statement is worded misleadingly. There is no exhaustive list of "forbidden" terms, nor do I think it would really be possible to publish one.
The internet is full of stuff like, "Oh that's gay!" or "Stop being a Jew!" or "Dude you totally look like a fag." etc. I think that, in many cases, this stuff is said in a more-or-less playful manner and not intended to constitute actual hate-speech or the denigration of a minority, or anything like that. However, even if the intentions aren't there, the negative connotations are automatic. In fact, that's why people use these terms in the first place.
I see at least two problems with that kind of stuff.
Such talk quickly gets out of hand, and before you know it a fun and friendly forum starts looking like 4Chan. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the fact is that there are so many places online where you can partake in that type of exchange that it's hard to see a fit for it on GFSA, or to see that it really adds any value to a thread.
The other issue is that such language can also genuinely upset other members (who report the posts), and it's at that point that moderator attention is really focused on it. There are certainly worse terms than "pansy" (and knowing you a little bit, Dewald, I don't see you as the type of guy who sets out to offend anybody) but we need to try and draw the same line for everyone. In this case, at least, some posts on the thread were reported, which is not the same thing as a moderator simply exercising their own ethical perspective over others.
As for being too PC, well, it's a grey area. I personally don't think that saying "That's so gay" is particularly hurtful, but then I'm not gay and I'm so used to hearing that amongst online gamers and chat groups that I'm almost totally oblivious to it, so I could easily understand how other people might have a problem with it (in fact there was an article on News24 on this exact issue not too long ago).
