TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
David Slonosky quotes an unknown-to-me source and adds a comment:
>From: David Slonosky <slonoskd -at- itls -dot- com>
>Date: 18 Sep 1997 08:31:11 -0500
>Message-id: <199709181327 -dot- JAA00616 -at- itlsgate -dot- itls -dot- com>
>
>> Maybe I'm just dense. Can someone explain why slave/master analogies are
>> per se insensitive?
>
>Oh, it's just so shocking and obviously a symbol of the dominant
>capitalist class.
>
>Let's suggest some alternatives.
>
>* Co-dependent and dependent
>* Dom and sub
>* Ren and Stimpy (if you could get the copyright violations handled)
>* Micros*ft and A**le
>* Deluded power monger and coerced psychological partner
>
>Next they'll be outlawing the phrases "mounting a disk drive" and
>"place your output in the chain queue". Gads.
>
>
>David Slonosky
>Documentation Specialist
>ITLS, Markham, ON, Canada
David and everybody else who likes master-slave: I'm glad all these
phrases are harmless where you live. But I live and work within miles of
many old plantations, and in our offices every day black people whose folks
were chattel on those plantations work side by side with people whose folks
owned them. They do not appreciate this terminology nor should they have
to be subjected to it while going about their work. There is a difference
between absurdist political correctness and obsolete careless language
which is unnecessary. The English language is a vast thing and we can and
should come up with something better than old people-owning terminology for
linked databases, and better than Ren and Stimpy.
Pat Mason
Jackson, MS
patgmason -at- aol -dot- com
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
