A bitch is a female wolf. If there's something offensive about wolves, then I'm probably not the only one who needs to change my keyname. If there's nothing offensive about wolves, then there must be something offensive about females, or my name is a non-issue. :)

If Dan and Tom (or the community at large) wants me to use a different key for posting on the forum, then I will... if Dan and Tom decide to block (or ask me to completely quit using) this key, then that's okay. It's their game, their rules, and none of us would be able to use BYOND under any keyname if they didn't take the time to make it. But I maintain that bitch shouldn't be considered offensive, for the reason listed above. Besides, Meredith Brooks has a song that's played uncensored on light, pop-sugary type radio stations that's called "Bitch"... its refrain has been featured in ads for more at least one motion picture, and probably more, considering how many it's been used in. If a word is kosher for mainstream television and mainstream radio, I can't imagine it's too offensive for the internet.

And why do I use it, anyway? I can't stop a vast number of men to use "bitch" to refer to women as objects of possession, or submissive figures, but I can work to counteract them by using it as a badge of pride. The connotations come from the animal kingdom, where the dominant males rule over the females of breeding age. But you know what? That imagery is bogus. The breeding male is completely expendable. That's why, in a pack of horses, there's only one lead stallion for all the mares... if the stallion dies, then another will take his place... but any mare that dies means one less foal in the spring. That's why in birds, the male is brightly colored to attract predators, and the female is camouflaged. Males don't protect the young and female members of a pack because they're stronger... that's backwards. They've become stronger because for millenia they sacrificed themselves to save the breeding females and the children, and the ones who survived, of course, were the strongest specimens. But big picture, it doesn't really matter if the males die defending the pack/herd or not... as long as there's one left.

This is not to dig on males, but to make the point: the females are important. If it's a compliment to be called a stallion, or a stud, or top dog, or leader of the pack... then I'm going to accept the term "bitch" as just as big a compliment, if not bigger.



On 6/9/01 6:50 pm FIREking wrote:

no offense lexybitch

but i often wonder if your key name is acceptable to the byond community

dont get me wrong, but your keyname is fine with me, and im sure that it is fine with everyone here at byond,

but im saying that it is kind of funny that you got away with a key name like that,

im not saying that you should get your key name changed either,

i just wonder if my key name was donkeydong or peepoop or even @#$@#%#, if they would let me keep it,

i would never choose those as keynames since they are childish names in the first place

just pondering,
FIREking

im not making any fun

I know that.

not bein offensive in any way

I know that, too. I'm just explaining why I chose the name, in case anyone is wondering, or is offended. I actually thought about putting up the explanatory post when I first started posting, but no one ever commented on my name. I concluded that it was a non-issue, and remain content to let it remain so.

but sadly lexy
some men have changed the meaning of the bitch these days
and sadly, there are men who treat women improper
this makes me more angry each day, but it is so massive, it is hard to stop

I know that, too. I even mentioned it in my post. And yes, it's hard to stop, but as I mentioned in my post, I'm trying to stop it by changing perceptions of the word "bitch" towards a more positive light.

i was simply saying that maybe someone thinks it is offensive

No one's said anything to me yet, but they're sure welcome to. If anyone's complained to Dantom, I don't know, but they're of course welcome to do that, too. But my final opinion on the matter: men have no business being offended by the word "bitch." You can't even claim that it has sexual connotations, without simultaneously claiming that females are sex objects. I know of two women who read this forum. I can safely say that at least one of them isn't offended. :)

yeah right
lol
FIREking meaning the King of fire, if you will.....

but i often wonder if your key name is acceptable to the byond community

dont get me wrong, but your keyname is fine with me, and im sure that it is fine with everyone here at byond,

I was actually going to say something about it, but then I realised that most minors have been exposed to the word "bitch" a heck of a lot more often than the more crass swearwords. And "bitch", though generally derogatory in today's (and yesterday's) English, is also slang camaraderie. "Wassup, bitch?"

So I repealed my retort before I even started it.

Actually, I recall seeing that exact name ("Fireking") in a game I played recently, but I forget what it was...

No, that was a different name. The name you're thinking of refers to the action of fireking, from the infinitive "to firek", and not "Fire king" at all.

Okay, ten American dollars says that I know what I saw.

Yay, I won the bet! That'll be 100 BYONDimes, please. ;-)

what are you talking about ignore me?
man, i was being nice to lexy, and you dont know what your talking about

FIREking means KING OF FIRE
and lexybitch is a GREAT NAME

find something in those lines of words bad about anyone, and you are a putz

so lexybitch doesnt have to ignore the "flame" (in your little rhyme of words)
flame being me i suppose
and if you say different, you just lying

what are you talking about ignore me?

I agree that you didn't flame me (he wasn't calling you "the flame", he was referring to your post as a flame... an attack via electronic communication), but in all fairness, you made the suggestion that people might be offended by my name, and I have to agree that ignoring such a comment is a wonderful idea (if people are offended by something that doesn't bother you, let them say so... you don't go looking for people who are offended.) If I were the kind of person inclined to ignore things, I probably would've ignored it. I think I said somewhere in this thread that I consider my name a non-issue and would like it to remain so. If you personally aren't offended by my name, then there's no reason for you to make an issue of it, either.

I didn't choose it to be like a wolf... that's just what the word happens to mean. Female canine. "Lexy" happens to mean "wordy" (which happens to be appropriate for me), but just because it means something doesn't mean why I chose it.

i tried being nice to you lexy

There is no nice way to point out that someone's name might be found offensive. It doesn't matter if you're right... and you are right. My name is probably the most likely to be judged offensive of any key name here. Spuzzum's is probably second, because it sounds dirty (I know where it came from, Spuzz... I'm not saying it IS dirty, but it certainly does sound that way to the uninitiated. Or maybe that's just my gutter mind.), but mine is the only that contains a word anybody would argue is "patently offensive." But my point is, there's no way to do what you tried to do and have it come across and friendly, positive, or beneficial... and it's hard to do it in a way that doesn't look like you're trying to drum up opposition to the name. I'm not saying that I think that's what you're doing... just that it's hard not to make it look that way.

In short, if you were actually trying to be nice, you wouldn't have called any more attention to my name than it calls to itself... which thus far, hasn't been much.

and yes it was nice, and no i never said you name was offensive to ME or ANYONE HERE, but someone somewhere will find it offensive

No, it was not nice. "Your name might be offensive" can't hope to be anything better than neutral. If you want to end this conversation, then end it... i.e., don't post again... but if you respond to this message, I'll respond back... because as long as you're responding, it's still a conversation.