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I've had good friends who were Europeans studying here, and they can definitely be very insensitive and racist. What makes the two flavors of racism different to me is American racism is typically very confrontational, tribalistic. White man calling a black man a slur, and there's something cavalier about it, maybe even humorous on the part of the racist.
Europeans have a much more "it is the way it is" attitude. I've heard friends talk very disparagingly about interracial couples, or blacks in general, and the attitude is less "hate for hate's sake" but instead "it is the wrong way to be and my way is correct". Fascinatingly, when you point out the bigotry, my friends have typically refused to accept their bias (at best), and will deny they're racist.
I've heard Europeans call Turks 'filthy' and 'roaches' and Africans 'monkeys'. And don't get me started on the things said about the Romani.
I don't think there's a difference in how tribalistic or vicious it is.
Weird. I haven't.
Making sure I'm reading this right...I know a guy who claims he isn't sexist but that it is OK to pay women less because they aren't as good at some things as men. So in his mind, it isn't sexist to pay women less or even claim they should be paid less - even though it is.
Is that similar to what you're saying?
Not a bad way of comparing it tbh
Did you type 'females' instead of 'women' for the sake of the argument or did you get caught up in it as well?
Guess I got caught in it. Just looked it up and didn't realize until now that female wasn't an acceptable word to use. TIL. Thanks!
The easy way to understand and remember is that "female" is an adjective the vast majority of the time, and it's usually misogynists and incels using it as a noun.
I think mysoginists just have a lot of spotlight on them, or are vocal. I hadn't been aware of "female" being used as a slur before it was pointed out here on Lemmy. I think "female" as a noun is still used neutrally far more often than as a slur.
As an adult female human, I have never been called a "female" in a positive or neutral tone. The key point is that you basically never hear people calling men "males" anywhere outside of scientific discussion.
I accept your experience as valid. However, I do see men and boys being collectively refered to as "males". I propose that the disparity may be explained by the places we frequent. But I also agree that the "males" noun don't seem to be used as often. This, coupled with how the "female" noun is used as a slur by misogynists, make it clear to me why women are offended by it, and it's why I've stopped using it.
While we're on the topic, I think "black people" is the preferred term (in general it's adjectives over nouns, like "gay people" vs "gays")
I've heard people of all types use the word 'blacks' I think it's a regional thing.
It’s more likely a field thing. People who work in fields highly dedicated to equity (esp. those working in healthcare) are especially concerned with their language and so create style guides that people outside those fields have gleaned from.
Example:
Hey fair enough. I use whites so I tend to use the same kind of term in the other direction, too. I don't mean anything insulting by it
Wow, you've really succinctly put it best! Being a European myself, this is how I constantly feel when I hear racist shit in my daily life (mainly from family).
It's like, people here just can't even fathom that what they're saying is racist, that they're racist, because to them what they're saying is just a simple fact of life that everybody accepts. They don't show open animosity towards minorities or throw racial slurs like you'd see more in America (though there is definitely some of that here too don't get me wrong), but it's a very casual, low-key form of racism where folks comment on X group of people all being one way and no one batting an eye for example.
And if you so much as suggest they're racist, or the country they're in has or had issues with racism and other issues of oppression, a lot will legit fight you tooth and nail over it because they can't handle the notion of it.
It's really freaking weird and took me a lot of time to be conscious of it myself, since I grew up surrounded by this sort of attitude.
And it's not just right-leaning people doing this. Some minorities like the Romani are openly discriminated by just about everyone across the political spectrum, the degree just varies. And then based on the country you'll typically see a lot of Xenophobia towards the bigger migrant groups.