Comment on Is there a difference between "comfortable space" and a "safespace"?
CombatWombat@feddit.online 1 week ago
Safe spaces, in my mind, are ones that are free of any language that could be construed as harmful, whereas a comfortable space is one that is free of any language that any member construes as harmful. Like, as a concrete but contrived example, I would expect a policy like: if anyone is uncomfortable, we’ll enforce that everyone says “person experiencing homelessness,” but until then, we understand that that being policed is uncomfortable and you can feel empathy and still say “homeless person,” so we’re allowing that, even if it is strictly speaking a signal of a safer space.
pHr34kY@lemmy.world 1 week ago
I’d get told off for saying “homeless person” instead of “person experiencing homelessness” and just feel confused because I both terms conveying the exact same thing, but the politically correct term just feeling clumsy.
Like, I have heard a lot of slurs for the homeless, and I don’t think “homeless person” wouldn’t even rank.
But I do like the idea of a “comfortable” space where neutral langauge is accepted. I hate euphemisms, and I’m irked by people who use them.
AskewLord@piefed.social 1 week ago
it’s deeper than that. the people who insist on this are… people who want to obfuscate the problems. because the reality of them are too harsh for them to emotionally accept.t
The truth is there are legit homeless people… people who actively refuse shelters and social services and prefer to live on the streets, many of whom are criminal and can’t be in the shelters because they want to use drugs, abuse people, and steal shit… but the acknowledgement of this is not possible for people who insist ’no they are just not getting enough help/stigmatized’.
Most homeless folks are only temporarily homeless and most are like living out of a car or other temporary situation.
But those folks can’t acknowledge any complexity of any issue. because it terrifies them that other people are different than them… or exist outside of the limits of their small imaginations… so they want to shrink the world to fit into their comfortable headspace with euphemisms.