22 CommentsFOB (Friend of Bwog) BW graphics editor, Tablet Editor-in-Chief, and all-around badass Jerone Hsu has a new project. Says he:
“There is a brand new publication at Columbia as of this semester. With any luck (and hopefully with your assistance), we can put together something quite unlike anything else that currently exists on campus.
The name for this small project is Eclectica Esoterica (“dub-E” or [EE] for short). With it, we hope to offer both the eclectic and the esoteric in the form of Columbia student papers.
Of course, we this means we need your papers. Badly.”
Bwog encourages you to submit any academic paper you have written for a Columbia class (the weirder, the better, apparently) by January 30 (that’s tomorrow!). eclecticaesoterica@gmail.com – make us proud, kids.
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22 Comments
@re: cam i think “we didn’t know, we’re sorry, and we’ve changed” is a fine defense for accidentally saying something problematic. what else are you going to do?
@Cam ” I can’t help but notice that about 1 out of 3 Bwog posts ends with people calling each other racists”
Oddly enough, I’ve seen this happen with a LOT of anon debates across the internets, no matter what the context.
Anyway, since when did anyone try to use ignorance to defend this supposed insensitivity? ‘We didn’t know, we’re sorry, and we changed it’ is not a defense.
(I only say ‘supposed’ because I’ve only ever heard the term when people were joking, usually Canadians. YMMV as always.)
@Haha Wow, that was pretty funny. Silly kids. Silly ignorance!
@Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase. Hakuna Matata, ain’t no passing craze. It means no worries for the rest of your dayyyyyyyyyys.
Seriously, folks, chiiiiiiiiiilllll. I can’t help but notice that about 1 out of 3 Bwog posts ends with people calling each other racists, getting offended at each other, or just having very large sticks up their rear ends. This story was about a call for submissions for a magazine, for Christ’s sake!!! If you feel the need to yell at people, go to B@B. Bwog can’t please everybody, and in this particular case it doesn’t seem like most people give a flying ****, so chill.
@one What’s wrong with FOB? It could be misinterpreted. If you know Jerone, you knwo that the term would not even apply to him. I just thought it was awkwardly placed in this posting by BWOG, since I had never seen them use it before. Perhaps many people don’t know what FOB means or what it stands for, but if someone did (like I pointed out) then it could be misinterpreted.
If we have thousands of words to choose from, and hundreds of acroynms, why choose one that could be problematic? Thanks Lydia for the correction. Didn’t mean to be a pain in the ass, just wanted to point out that even despite the qualifier (Friend of BWOG), the term FOB could be misinterpreted; and from my perspective BWOG didn’t have the intention to say as much, but it was careless in its juxtaposition of the word in this posting.
If you think that being aware of how we use language is politically correct, then you are mistaken. If I call someone something in a public forum I ought to be concious of how it can or might be received, and then if I use the term I am doing so with intent and purpose. Throwing around words (without the knowledge of how they are used, the power they have) in public debate is a serious blunder that often can offend individuals and groups. It is all about the choices we make, so long as we are comfortable with the consequences some of those choices may have.
@I think YOU’RE the racist if you assumed bwog’s choice was racially motivated based solely on the juxtaposition of “FOB” with a name of asian origin.
@jeez ? who are you ? – You throw the word ‘racist’ around like you know what it means. I have merely attempted to argue the issue of miscommunication that I think this post’s failings highlighted – yes, this is racist! Jeez.
And since when is ignorance (not knowing the significance of a term or acronym) a defense against insensitivity? Even though someone may intend for a word/phrase to be interpreted one way, it is not to say that is the only way it can be interpreted. I think it is fair to say, that one interpretation of the post, one that sprung to my mind as soon as I read it, was decisively negative and problematic.
So if you want to jump to conclusions about what I have done, do so, but then be comforted by the fact that you’re looking ridiculous in the act.
@did you see the joke about the sodium atom! hahaha hilarious
@that that ‘metaphorically’ there lets in a lot of opportunity for racism…
@i meant metaphorically as in not necessarily a boat. Maybe it’s a plane. Or a car. Or maybe they hiked here across the border. Friggin Canadians. Taking away our jobs, and Frenchifying the very essence of this country.
@What's wrong with FOB? It’s not like it’s a falsification. Yeah, some people are, literally or metaphorically, fresh of the boat. They’re in a new country, unaware of local customs and culture. In fact, they continue to follow their old ways until they acclimate to their new surroundings. And there’s nothing wrong with finding some things humorous, so long as you don’t take it beyond limits. Fucking political correctness can kiss my immigrant ass.
@fob it’s one of those phrases that society has ridiculously decided is only acceptable in the form of self-mockery. I would attribute it to political correctness’ attempts to shutter free speech, but it’s even more ridiculous when words can only be uttered by those of a certain race/sociopolitical category.
@Agreed this is a bit ridiculous.
I knew some people who tried to ‘reclaim’ their own ethnic slurs in response to the black community’s stance on the n-word (i.e. it’s ok if we use it, but its racist if you use it.)
Somehow “What up my kike!” never really caught on.
@Regardless, the use of an acronym like FOB in its connotation that some find insulting, it is intention that matters, not the word itself. I have a friend whose mother came here from Iran, and on a notable instance, he commented that she was indeed a FOB. Affronted, she replied “I’m not a FOB, I come on plane!”
Again, context is important. Chill out, #1
@so many fobs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fob
@alum I believe the Bwogger intended “FOB” as a play on Friend of Bill (FOB), which references folks in the Clinton inner-circle.
@If your Daily Editor has never heard the actual meaning of FOB, perhaps (s)he needs to get out of the whiteman cave and take a look around. I don’t think it’s a hateful term at all, hell, I’m white and I was a FOB not that many years ago.
@Lydia Forgive us for the unfortunate acronym choice; comment #1 was the first time our daily editor had heard the reference. Far be it from us to resemble Princeton in any way.
Lydia
@dont care i’m Asian and even i find that term/abbreviation pretty esoteric. i’m pretty sure the bwog editor(s) didn’t do it knowing its other connotations. chalk it up to being uninformed, not trying to make a crass joke.
@yeah same here.I’m Asian and the first time I actually heard the term used it was in college.
@I thought they did and I thought it was funny.
and I’m asian.
@disappointed I got a big problem with your use of FOB. Perhaps you thought you were being cute, and I know you added what you use FOB as, but this is the first time I have seen you use FOB and it is with someone who is asian. Sure Jerone is a friend of Bwog, and on the BW — but other people with similar affiliations aren’t called a FOB as you have here (as far as I am aware). I am deeply disappointed in BWOG particularly following the recent scandal at Princeton.