Oh man, are you kidding me with this stuff? I was perusing a textbook on how to teach English as a foreign language when they handily suggested writing these adjectives on the board and discussing their meaning. Hmm, I wonder if I can spot a theme.
Let’s see, Happy. It’s good to be happy right? Everyone wants to be happy!
Interesting. Well no one wants to be boring, so obviously everyone wants to be happy too!
Nice. We’re told from childhood to Be Nice and Play Nice. The most basic descriptor of a decent person? They’re nice.
Pretty. Heroines are pretty! The prettiest girl in school is a much sought-after title. Prettiness is power!
Thin. To borrow a word from my Jewish brothers and sisters “Oy”.
Wow, in my days we were taught to say:
Hi, my name is ________,I come from _______, etc.
But then again I’m
old
short
and fat
Apparently not the target audience to start learning English.
I’m really glad I go that done and over with in the 90’s when the only requisite was the desire to learn a new language.
Comment by coffeeaddict — September 20, 2011 @ 11:32 am
Oh I see SO many opportunities here….repeat after me class
“You are too skinny, you need a sandwich”
“In my country someone as skinny as you would be dead by Tuesday”
“You are a nice girl, you could be pretty if you gained weight”
Comment by Thea — September 20, 2011 @ 5:58 pm
That’s funny, I looked at the list and started playing the game “Which one doesn’t belong” and my eyes went straight to thin.
Comment by Mel — September 20, 2011 @ 9:07 pm
In Australia we say “Oi!” It’s very quick and often shouted as in “OiI!”. It means, “something’s not right here and it’s important I point it out!”. A bit like the welsh “Oh!” and the American “Hey!”. I think it’s just as applicable here!
Comment by Judy-May — September 21, 2011 @ 5:24 am
Just goes to show that everything is political, a bias is inherent even in seemingly innocent looking lists of words, given the context. Shows you the level of hate and its pervasiveness when you have to think about ways to get rid of the discrimination.
Comment by ChaChaHeels — September 21, 2011 @ 6:09 am