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Political Correctness in TW'ing is a bottomless pit.
I've tried manfully (person-fully?) to ignore the subject, but as one
whose self esteem might be "damaged" by these "oppressive" terms, I
gotta weigh-in on this one.
My profession is Technical Writing/Editing; my heritage is both African
*and* Hebrew; and I was born and raised below the U.S. Mason-Dixon Line.
The words "Master" and "Slave" - when used as technical terms - have
NEVER......EVER conjured up images of whips, chains, picking cotton or
building pyramids. I feel extremely patronized when someone considers my
skin to be so thin that such widely and historically accepted technical
terms as these would be offensive to me. Any technical author who went
through some of the contortions discussed in this thread - however
well-intentioned - to avoid being "insulting" would produce the opposite
result in my case and many others.
If Engineers were designing "Evil Oppressor Cylinders" and
"Disenfranchised Victim Cylinders" - well yes, I'd have a problem with
that, because it was both insulting and silly.
There are exceptions of course, such as gender neutrality, but even that
can get off in the weeds sometimes. I do agree that writing with
cultural understanding and common sense should govern, but for me, "PC"
stands for either Proper Communication or Poor Communication; anything
else does not belong in the realm of technical communication.
Thank to Yves Jeaurond, for reminding us that a word does not have the
same value in every topic. If anyone should understand this fact it'd
Technical Wordsmiths. Thank to John Posada, for reminding us where our
bread ($$) is buttered.
Respectfully,
Darren J. Butler
Senior Technical Publications Specialist
NG Corp
-----Original Message-----
From:
techwr-l-bounces+darren -dot- butler -dot- ctr=robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+darren -dot- butler -dot- ctr=robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot-
com] On Behalf Of Abels, Marci A [NTK]
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 9:49 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Replacing "master" and "slave" terminology
I agree that master/slave is a good description, but, as pointed out
here already, it will get in the way of good communication for some of
the audience. I have used manager/contributor to describe this
relationship.
Marci Abels | Technical Writer II
Process Development & Documentation Center (PDDC)
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