Quote:
Originally Posted by Lathum
no outrage, just seems a little non PC, that is all. Not offended in the least nor looking for something to be offended by.
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I definitely feel a difference in tone when someone says "gays" versus for example, "people who are gay," or "Mexicans" versus "Mexican people. I think there's something linguistically about replacing a person's personhood with a category. Adding "the" puts things over the top. Saying "The gays" or "the blacks" or "the mexicans" seems to make an even stronger statement of otherness, or lumping them into some thing of which they all must be a part. Maybe it's just because it's the terms that prejudiced people typically use? Or is there something in the linguistics that changes the tone of it.