No more Prince or Princesses

[lotsohugginbear]

We teach students to ask themselves : "Is it kind? Is it respectful?" before they speak or post on social media . This is a good mantra for adults as well.

 

[jhglassman]

A lot of people don't intend to be harmful but still are. People can choose to apologize for their actions/words and attempt to avoid the harmful action in the future, or be a jerk about it

Charity means not trying to give offense as well as not trying to take offense.

 

[lowlight]

Respecting what someone wants to be called when you are interacting with them on a 1 on 1 basis is a reasonable request. Whether it’s sir vs ma’am or Steve vs Steven, it’s easy to respect someone’s wishes once they’ve told you how they want to be addressed. That’s common decency. Expecting everyone to automatically change how they greet every person they meet for what is legitimately and factually under 1 percent of the population is not reasonable. That’s my argument. I’m not a hateful person, I just have to draw the line somewhere and can’t let my life be ruled by such tiny percentages. You can find 1% of the population that is offended by anything and who gets to choose what offense is greater or “worth fixing”? The practical approach is to respect people individually but still practice common norms for the other 99% of humanity.

 

[BrianL]

Respecting what someone wants to be called when you are interacting with them on a 1 on 1 basis is a reasonable request. Whether it’s sir vs ma’am or Steve vs Steven, it’s easy to respect someone’s wishes once they’ve told you how they want to be addressed. That’s common decency. Expecting everyone to automatically change how they greet every person they meet for what is legitimately and factually under 1 percent of the population is not reasonable. That’s my argument. I’m not a hateful person, I just have to draw the line somewhere and can’t let my life be ruled by such tiny percentages. You can find 1% of the population that is offended by anything and who gets to choose what offense is greater or “worth fixing”? The practical approach is to respect people individually but still practice common norms for the other 99% of humanity.

Be careful - you are treading very close to being reasonable here, and people don't always care for that.

 

[nw6675]

Awhile back I helped a stranger I had just met with something and she said, "Thank you big mama." Now, I could have taken extreme offense, but I knew it came from a nice place and was essentially her calling me "friend".

Sometimes it truly is what we choose to react to and the intent in how something is given that matters. Intentionally being rude, disrespectful, or completely out of tune with someone's preference is totally different. Kindness matters.

 

[nancipants]

Respecting what someone wants to be called when you are interacting with them on a 1 on 1 basis is a reasonable request. Whether it’s sir vs ma’am or Steve vs Steven, it’s easy to respect someone’s wishes once they’ve told you how they want to be addressed. That’s common decency. Expecting everyone to automatically change how they greet every person they meet for what is legitimately and factually under 1 percent of the population is not reasonable. That’s my argument. I’m not a hateful person, I just have to draw the line somewhere and can’t let my life be ruled by such tiny percentages. You can find 1% of the population that is offended by anything and who gets to choose what offense is greater or “worth fixing”? The practical approach is to respect people individually but still practice common norms for the other 99% of humanity.

"I just have to draw the line somewhere and can't let my life be ruled by such tiny percentages"

Does switching to gender-neutral language really have that much of an impact on your life?

 

[nancipants]

Awhile back I helped a stranger I had just met with something and she said, "Thank you big mama." Now, I could have taken extreme offense, but I knew it came from a nice place and was essentially her calling me "friend".

Sometimes it truly is what we choose to react to and the intent in how something is given that matters. Intentionally being rude, disrespectful, or completely out of tune with someone's preference is totally different. Kindness matters.

Disney is being kind by using gender-neutral language. If individual folks don't want to, fine. But they are a company that wants to err on the side of inclusivity and I will never be able to understand why that makes people so angry.

 

[CalOilerGurl]

Cast Members are wonderful and I will bet if your child is dressed up in a princess dress, they will be addressed as "princess"

 

[BorderTenny]

Disney is being kind by using gender-neutral language. If individual folks don't want to, fine. But they are a company that wants to err on the side of inclusivity and I will never be able to understand why that makes people so angry.

It's because the "gender-neutral" term they seem to be settling on is not relationship status-neutral. "Friend" is an earned status that does not apply to complete strangers. It's as bad as if someone went around calling everyone "lover". What's wrong with using the classic "folks"?

 

[nw6675]

Disney is being kind by using gender-neutral language. If individual folks don't want to, fine. But they are a company that wants to err on the side of inclusivity and I will never be able to understand why that makes people so angry.

I am going to assume that you were speaking generally to the group as I am not angry in any way. IMHO, Disney leadership is not doing this to be kind or really cares about being inclusive, but wishes to be perceived as such.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When I don't know the gender of someone I use they. I've often done that over the years as that is also grammatically correct (it's often used as third person in books). I do this on the Board as well. When I don't know the gender of someone I use they. I understand why it is hard for people to adjust but I sometimes struggle with why it's such a big deal. Maybe it plays into someone's identity and they truly aren't aware of that.

Some of the examples throughout the thread use to say "see see I didn't get offended" or "I did get offended" are usually missing the point. It's like a diversion. This isn't about ma'am, mama, sir, dude, ladies, etc. Because in truth that isn't really what someone is often talking about. You have to ask yourself if you see someone and only think in either/or then that is the issue. It's about opening up your viewpoint to something that's different. IME that's the reason feathers get ruffled. People who are usually genuine in their humility often will say "I trip up sometimes" (and that's totally okay). The other side of the coin is a more flippant attitude. Almost a sneering way, and from my observations both here on the Board throughout various threads and IRL is those who have that way tend to view it as a pseudo attack on their identity which is a very ironic thing. Perhaps not all are this way but some of the loudest voices on this topic in general it at least comes off that way to me.

If you don't get offended at being called ma'am or sir or whatever the more logical way of thinking is that it's not tied to your own identity. But when you do feel strongly enough about it in an interesting twist you share the very feeling of those you often don't see should have an issue with it. If say you'd rather be viewed as a male in an ironic way the inability to truly understand why someone else would rather be view as xyz suddenly becomes an issue. ***Note quite a few people are able to be on both sides, prefer to be called xyz but also completely understand someone else would be preferred to call/viewed as xyz as well. But there are those who aren't.

 

[Disneylover99]

It's because the "gender-neutral" term they seem to be settling on is not relationship status-neutral. "Friend" is an earned status that does not apply to complete strangers. It's as bad as if someone went around calling everyone "lover". What's wrong with using the classic "folks"?

I definitely prefer the word folks over friends. Although I don’t mind friends when a CM is addressing a group of people. The problem is, there is no singular for folks, so when addressing individuals, I guess the neutral default word becomes friend.

 

[lowlight]

"I just have to draw the line somewhere and can't let my life be ruled by such tiny percentages"

Does switching to gender-neutral language really have that much of an impact on your life?

I do believe you’ve either intentionally or unintentionally misinterpreted what I said and put extra words in my mouth. Who gets to be the arbiter?

 

[eandt]

We teach students to ask themselves : "Is it kind? Is it respectful?" before they speak or post on social media . This is a good mantra for adults as well.

Perhaps at the same time we could teach them to not be offended by everything anyone else might say ..........

 

[eandt]

I definitely prefer the word folks over friends. Although I don’t mind friends when a CM is addressing a group of people. The problem is, there is no singular for folks, so when addressing individuals, I guess the neutral default word becomes friend.

Yeah!!! I can still say "folks" without offending anyone .... that is a win!

 

[SkipperDave]

It's because the "gender-neutral" term they seem to be settling on is not relationship status-neutral. "Friend" is an earned status that does not apply to complete strangers. It's as bad as if someone went around calling everyone "lover". What's wrong with using the classic "folks"?

"Folks" is plural.

 

[pineapplepalms]

Mr. Rogers referred to his audience or any guest on his show as 'friend', so this has gone back as far as the 70s.

Agree, calling people “friends” is not a new concept. But I wonder if it’s a lot more common now in day to day life depending on your circumstances, which has been my experience with my kids. Just curious if those who take issue with it don’t encounter it often day to day and only ever hear it at Disney, or if it also regularly upsets them in their day to day lives.

 

[Disneylover99]

Yeah!!! I can still say "folks" without offending anyone .... that is a win!

For now.
One definition suggests the word folks is used for the common people.
Aren’t we supposed to be special at Disney? Lol.

 

[SkipperDave]

Cast Members are wonderful and I will bet if your child is dressed up in a princess dress, they will be addressed as "princess"

I'm not calling anyone "princess" who's not dressed up. You gotta earn that!!!

 

[eandt]

Respecting what someone wants to be called when you are interacting with them on a 1 on 1 basis is a reasonable request. Whether it’s sir vs ma’am or Steve vs Steven, it’s easy to respect someone’s wishes once they’ve told you how they want to be addressed. That’s common decency. Expecting everyone to automatically change how they greet every person they meet for what is legitimately and factually under 1 percent of the population is not reasonable. That’s my argument. I’m not a hateful person, I just have to draw the line somewhere and can’t let my life be ruled by such tiny percentages. You can find 1% of the population that is offended by anything and who gets to choose what offense is greater or “worth fixing”? The practical approach is to respect people individually but still practice common norms for the other 99% of humanity.

"Folks" is plural.

So is they and them