tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post4632564584371530625..comments2024-02-24T03:34:18.060-05:00Comments on Stealing Commas: Always punch up; never punch downchris the cynichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-8188415666813189982015-12-01T08:09:24.202-05:002015-12-01T08:09:24.202-05:00It seems like you might have missed that this was ...It seems like you might have missed that this was an addendum to <a href="http://stealingcommas.blogspot.com/2013/10/there-are-normal-people-and-then-theres.html" rel="nofollow">another post</a> that addressed that very question <i>at great length</i>.<br /><br />The short version is that sometimes you need to be able to talk about different groups within the larger whole. That's that's the whole of the short version, but I can give an example, which I shall do.<br /><br />Consider sexual assault. Most people would agree that that is a bad thing we should try to stop.<br /><br />If we just have no division and have both groups fall under the collective category of "people" then we find that sexual assault happens to 35% of people in America. That's bad and we should do something about it.<br /><br />If the collective category of "people" were enough to understand the problem then subgroups* would have about the same rate. It wouldn't always be 35% but it would always be close. The difference between the actual rate and 35% would be mere statistical noise.<br /><br />In fact, sexual assault happens to 50% of transpeople in America. That's not just about 35%, and the difference isn't mere statistical noise. If we want to stop sexual assault of <b>all</b> people then we need to recognize that what's happening to cispeople isn't the same as what's happening to transpeople and address those different manifestations of the same problem differently.<br /><br />If we don't separate the groups, then we can't understand the problem (because the problem manifests in different ways for different groups), and if we can't understand the problem, then we can't fix the problem.<br /><br />Want to stop sexual assault? You need to be able to talk about transpeople and cispeople as different groups. Why? Because they're already being treated differently by the people who are doing bad things.<br /><br />-<br /><br />* Excluding the obvious exceptions. The subgroup "people who have never been, and will never be, sexually assaulted" would still have a rate of 0%, for example, because it uses sexual assault as part of its selection criteria.chris the cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-39993398215815722892015-12-01T05:25:09.996-05:002015-12-01T05:25:09.996-05:00Baffled - you say the division will be "peopl...Baffled - you say the division will be "people and transpeople." Can't there simply be no division and both groups would simply fall under the collective category of "people?" How about we all stop worrying about labels so much? You wont stop bullies with a special label, and everybody else doesn't care about your sexuality.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-75938422356777522232013-10-15T14:26:27.206-04:002013-10-15T14:26:27.206-04:00You're welcome.You're welcome.chris the cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-76539768645861269662013-10-14T16:11:46.392-04:002013-10-14T16:11:46.392-04:00This and its related post make good points. Thank...This and its related post make good points. Thanks for writing them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-77474356558153354702013-10-11T23:21:20.259-04:002013-10-11T23:21:20.259-04:00Thank you for letting me know. Very serious and h...Thank you for letting me know. Very serious and heartfelt thank you.chris the cynichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06872875475212333027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3889388775673754833.post-58168641514298279552013-10-11T20:39:10.981-04:002013-10-11T20:39:10.981-04:00I don't have much to add to this, but I wanted...I don't have much to add to this, but I wanted you to know that I really like it :)Kristycathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13321532023627519016noreply@blogger.com