ON ISMISMISM

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

IT IS SAID THAT AN ISM IS JUST A UNIFORM BUT I WOULD ARGUE THAT ISMISM IS ALSO A UNIFORM, A QUICK FIX, A PIGEONHOLE, A BOX, A WAY TO AVOID THINKING BY PUTTING EVERYTHING IN A CERTAIN CATEGORY LABELED "I AM BETTER THAN THAT". IT IS LAZY AND STUPID.

THAT IS ALL.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

IT IS SAID THAT AN ISM IS JUST A UNIFORM BUT I WOULD ARGUE THAT ISMISM IS ALSO A UNIFORM, A QUICK FIX, A PIGEONHOLE, A BOX, A WAY TO AVOID THINKING BY PUTTING EVERYTHING IN A CERTAIN CATEGORY LABELED "I AM BETTER THAN THAT". IT IS LAZY AND STUPID.

THAT IS ALL.

Another tragic case of meme fatigue.

SOMEONE GET THIS WOMAN SOME 4CHAN!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

IT IS SAID THAT AN ISM IS JUST A UNIFORM BUT I WOULD ARGUE THAT ISMISM IS ALSO A UNIFORM, A QUICK FIX, A PIGEONHOLE, A BOX, A WAY TO AVOID THINKING BY PUTTING EVERYTHING IN A CERTAIN CATEGORY LABELED "I AM BETTER THAN THAT". IT IS LAZY AND STUPID.

THAT IS ALL.

Another tragic case of meme fatigue.

SOMEONE GET THIS WOMAN SOME 4CHAN!

I CANNAE HANDLE ANYMORE, CAPTAIN!

[East Coast Hustle]

If someone uses disdain for -isms as an excuse to not think about the problem the -ism was originally intended to address, I agree completely. But I also think there's alot of validity in the idea that people get so caught up in the -ism that they lose sight of why they got into the -ism in the first place.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

If someone uses disdain for -isms as an excuse to not think about the problem the -ism was originally intended to address, I agree completely. But I also think there's alot of validity in the idea that people get so caught up in the -ism that they lose sight of why they got into the -ism in the first place.

Sure.

Same can be applied to practically anything with any prefix or suffix.

GIVE ME AN INNOCENT PREFIX OR SUFFIX, I WILL BUILD A RELIGION AROUND IT, TO PREVENT HAVING TO THINK.

Fucking thing is, just about anything can be suffixed with -ist, making it an -ism.

LET'S USELESSIFY LANGUAGE FOR MAXIMIZING OUR OPPORTUNITIES TO MANIFEST ARBITRARY DISTINCTIONS

WHERE IS LMNO WHEN I NEED HIM

[East Coast Hustle]

OF course you are technically correct, but I think the root of the issue is what happens to people who choose to identify themselves first and foremost with an -ism rather than just having it be one aspect of the whole of who they are.

[Dildo Argentino]

If someone uses disdain for -isms as an excuse to not think about the problem the -ism was originally intended to address, I agree completely. But I also think there's alot of validity in the idea that people get so caught up in the -ism that they lose sight of why they got into the -ism in the first place.

Sure.

Same can be applied to practically anything with any prefix or suffix.

GIVE ME AN INNOCENT PREFIX OR SUFFIX, I WILL BUILD A RELIGION AROUND IT, TO PREVENT HAVING TO THINK.

Fucking thing is, just about anything can be suffixed with -ist, making it an -ism.

LET'S USELESSIFY LANGUAGE FOR MAXIMIZING OUR OPPORTUNITIES TO MANIFEST ARBITRARY DISTINCTIONS

WHERE IS LMNO WHEN I NEED HIM

I salute you as the Mother of Anti-ismism, oh Revered One!

Also, meet the Father of Anti-ismismism. It's me.

It might seem the kids are beating up on each other in them thar sandpit,

but actually they are getting along just fine.

[P3nT4gR4m]

IT IS SAID THAT AN ISM IS JUST A UNIFORM BUT I WOULD ARGUE THAT ISMISM IS ALSO A UNIFORM, A QUICK FIX, A PIGEONHOLE, A BOX, A WAY TO AVOID THINKING BY PUTTING EVERYTHING IN A CERTAIN CATEGORY LABELED "I AM BETTER THAN THAT". IT IS LAZY AND STUPID.

THAT IS ALL.

Lazy? Guilty. Stupid? Probably (how would I know?)

Thing is - I don't have the time or the patience to wonder if the asshole who's annoying the piss out of me has a really great reason for being a piss annoying asshole. Could be he was dropped on his head as a baby, could be his mother never breastfed him. Fuck do I care? All I want to do is get him out of my way so's I can get on with getting the other 10,000 assholes standing behind him out of my way, so's I can go about my business.

I use shorthand. I use pigeonholes. It's the scattergun approach and I'm sure that some of the 10,000 assholes might actually not be assholes and I'm dismissing them unfairly. I'm comfortable with that. So I dismiss isms out of hand. I'm sure there's some good ones out there, buried under a mountain of assholes. I genuinely can't bring myself to care.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

I think the problem isn't the "ism" as much as the "dogma" that tends to sneak in with it. In the Cultural Appropriation thread, for example, the discussion wasn't "Do you think...", "I think...", "Some people believe..." It was "This is badwrong".

The problem I think has a lot to do with people forgetting that the -ism is their personal interpretation of an idea, or the groupthink interpretation of an idea that they've accepted for themselves. This stuff isn't objectively wrong, its subjectively wrong in the eyes of some people.

Rejecting all dogma and -isms might be an -ism (perhaps Discordianism); but its the kind of -ism that fits with statements like, "I firmly believe its a mistake to hold firm beliefs", so a meta-ism?

[EK WAFFLR]

Didn't v3x write an excellent piece on the same theme during the Feminism row earlier this year? On isms and asms or something?

[hooplala]

I would like to politely point out that Ferris Bueller made this point twenty-five years ago.  When will people start listening to Ferris?

[Bu🤠ns]

I would like to politely point out that Ferris Bueller made this point twenty-five years ago.  When will people start listening to Ferris?

Holy shit, great call out! 

And only because you didn't quote it:

Ferris: Not that I condone fascism, or any -ism for that matter. -Ism's in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism, he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon, "I don't believe in Beatles, I just believe in me." Good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I'd still have to bum rides off people.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

OF course you are technically correct, but I think the root of the issue is what happens to people who choose to identify themselves first and foremost with an -ism rather than just having it be one aspect of the whole of who they are.

AREN'T THERE ALREADY WORDS FOR THAT? LIKE SHALLOW, TWO-DIMENSIONAL, BORING, INFLEXIBLE, PEDANT GIT?

How I see the whole "ism" conversation usually going:

Ismist: "I SEE AN ISM AND I REJECT IT!"

Me: "Why?"

Ismist: "BECAUSE MENU TERRITORY UNIFORM KEYWORD JARGON"

Me: "Umm... OK".


STOP RUINING WORDS.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'm going to start making up my own meaning for words. From now on, any word that ends in the suffix -tion is an indicator that the user of that word identifies far too much with a particular action or set of actions. I reject -tions, because -tions are just an excuse to stop thinking.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I would like to politely point out that Ferris Bueller made this point twenty-five years ago.  When will people start listening to Ferris?

Actually, he made the exact opposite point than the one I am making, and it was A STUPID FUCKING POINT.