Scan barcode
A review by mrsdallogay
'i Find That Offensive!' by Claire Fox
1.0
I don't disagree with Claire Fox as much as I thought I would. Some of her points are fair enough, mainly I agree with her on the fact that identity politics doesn't make you an authoritative voice on a given topic simply because of your identity. And that the continual recourse to 'victimhood' is tiring. That being said, she's a member of the Brexit party whose libertarianism extends to the belief that the government should not ban child pornography. It's clear we're in for an interesting time here.
The book's central thesis is sloppy and unconvincing, blaming 'generation snowflake' (her term, not mine) on Gen X parents being too controlling etc. But I'm more concerned with the fact that Fox is one of many intellectuals who maintains a pig-headed adherence to the Enlightenment concept of 'free speech'. She continuously begs the viewer to take her side by calling upon them to be logical and rational, but this only made me less convinced with her argument. Furthermore the extent to which speech is ever truly free is debatable, but that's another philosophical argument altogether.
My main issue is that the particular 'attacks on free speech' she cites just aren't very good ones? She heralds some student who fought against attending a compulsory consent workshop as though he is the one in the right. Which... he isn't? I can't believe universities are attempting to reduce campus rape statistics by providing education on consent, god bless this young martyr who defiantly refused to go and had a lie in that morning instead. A true hero, his rationalism is so overwhelming I do believe the SJWs all dropped dead on the spot because of it.
I also think the book would have been better had she avoided the negatively connoted 'Snowflake Generation' or 'SJWs', although I suppose I may just be an SJW who needs a safe space. I would just say that language holds a lot of power, both communicatively and in the broader construction of society. Fox seems to believe the fact that people are now more aware of this is a bad thing, and would rather we allow language to run rampant.
A lot of Boomers get triggered over tattoos, piercings, abortion, people's weight, gender identity, sexuality and race. Essentially if you don't conform to their individualistic worldview then your very existence is 'wrong'. But of course 'generation snowflake' is the one stifling freedom of expression.
White people should never say the n-word, straight people should never say the f-word and you shouldn't purposefully misgender a person. Read a better book than this. Read any book not written by an out of touch old person whose intellectual complacency prevents them from thinking about the nuances of the younger generations' concerns with derogatory and offensive language!
The book's central thesis is sloppy and unconvincing, blaming 'generation snowflake' (her term, not mine) on Gen X parents being too controlling etc. But I'm more concerned with the fact that Fox is one of many intellectuals who maintains a pig-headed adherence to the Enlightenment concept of 'free speech'. She continuously begs the viewer to take her side by calling upon them to be logical and rational, but this only made me less convinced with her argument. Furthermore the extent to which speech is ever truly free is debatable, but that's another philosophical argument altogether.
My main issue is that the particular 'attacks on free speech' she cites just aren't very good ones? She heralds some student who fought against attending a compulsory consent workshop as though he is the one in the right. Which... he isn't? I can't believe universities are attempting to reduce campus rape statistics by providing education on consent, god bless this young martyr who defiantly refused to go and had a lie in that morning instead. A true hero, his rationalism is so overwhelming I do believe the SJWs all dropped dead on the spot because of it.
I also think the book would have been better had she avoided the negatively connoted 'Snowflake Generation' or 'SJWs', although I suppose I may just be an SJW who needs a safe space. I would just say that language holds a lot of power, both communicatively and in the broader construction of society. Fox seems to believe the fact that people are now more aware of this is a bad thing, and would rather we allow language to run rampant.
A lot of Boomers get triggered over tattoos, piercings, abortion, people's weight, gender identity, sexuality and race. Essentially if you don't conform to their individualistic worldview then your very existence is 'wrong'. But of course 'generation snowflake' is the one stifling freedom of expression.
White people should never say the n-word, straight people should never say the f-word and you shouldn't purposefully misgender a person. Read a better book than this. Read any book not written by an out of touch old person whose intellectual complacency prevents them from thinking about the nuances of the younger generations' concerns with derogatory and offensive language!