College Moron Responds to Seinfeld- Proves Seinfeld's Point

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

chicksontheright.com/blog/item/29336-college-student-writes-open-letter-to-seinfeld-to-criticize-him-for-saying-college-kids-are-too-easily-offended-accidentally-perfectly-proves-seinfeld-s-point

It's long, but this is my favorite part...

It isn't so much that college students are too politically correct (whatever your definition of that concept is), it's that comedy in our progressive society today can no longer afford to be crass, or provocative for the sake of being offensive. Sexist humor and racist humor can no longer exist in comedy because these concepts are based on archaic ideals that have perpetrated injustice against minorities in the past.

Well, let's see- what was it Jerry Seinfeld said?

Seinfeld says teens and college-aged kids don’t understand what it means to throw around certain politically-correct terms. “They just want to use these words: ‘That’s racist;’ ‘That’s sexist;’ ‘That’s prejudice,’” he said. “They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.”

The funnyman went on to recount a conversation he and his wife had with their 14-year-old daughter, which he believes proved his point.

“My wife says to her, ‘Well, you know, in the next couple years, I think maybe you’re going to want to be hanging around the city more on the weekends, so you can see boys,’” Seinfeld recalled. “You know what my daughter says? She says, ‘That’s sexist.’”

www.ew.com/article/2015/06/08/jerry-seinfeld-politically-correct-college-campuses

[dondub]

This is just too darn political for me that I can't even read it.

[swamp]

So this shows that one college kid and jerry Seinfeld daughter are stupid. And? 

[billisonboard]

I get what the kid is saying.  Take for example this song:


Initially the use of profanity seems to be done simply for the shock value of the words being used in a pop song. The ending makes it clear that there was a "central truth" which made the profanity not just "crass and vulgar.  

[Phoenix84]

Sounds like these college kids and teens just parrot what their teachers and peers say, or what they think they should say. They lack the life experience to recognize true racism.

[Phoenix84]

In my opinion, terms like "racism" and "sexism" are not terms you throw out just for the hell of it. Year to have some evidence or indication of real malice based solely on race or gender behind the action or statement.

[Deleted]

Interesting. 

It initially popped in to my head to say, 'malice isn't necessary for sexism/racism'... But really I guess it is. 

So maybe we need some other words, maybe that's why they get misused. What do you use to denote a recognition of privledge in one race or sex over another, or stereotyping of one race or sex, possibly against another, even if malice is not inherent? 

[Phoenix84]

Jun 12, 2015 7:17:57 GMT -5 oped said:

Interesting. 

It initially popped in to my head to say, 'malice isn't necessary for sexism/racism'... But really I guess it is. 

So maybe we need some other words, maybe that's why they get misused. What do you use to denote a recognition of privledge in one race or sex over another, or stereotyping of one race or sex, possibly against another, even if malice is not inherent? 

I think terms like "insensitivity" or inequality" are better suited

"Racism" to me means one genuinely believes one race is better than another.

Like any term, the more you use it the more it loses its meaning. And besides, what does calling someone, something, or an idea, or situation racist really accomplish? Such claims are virtually impossible to prove. Furthermore, I think it stifles thought and discussion about a very complex issue.

After all, if I come out and say "oh, that's racist", it pretty much shuts down the conversation. Most people don't give it any more thought than that.

[Deleted]

I think sometimes when it's used, and sometimes definitions/usage do chance over time, I think the way it is sometimes being used/misused is noting when one race/sex is institutionally favored over the others, or stereotyped.

Thus why the girl suggested it was 'sexist' to suggest that she was going to plan her life around boys. They were attributing a 'girl' trait to her that she felt was limiting.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Jun 12, 2015 6:58:02 GMT -5 Phoenix84 said:

In my opinion, terms like "racism" and "sexism" are not terms you throw out just for the hell of it. Year to have some evidence or indication of real malice based solely on race or gender behind the action or statement.

They're actually becoming a lot like the boy who cried wolf.  There are so many people running around yelling RACISTSEXISTBIGOTHOMOPHOBE!!! that no one would even really care or notice if you found one.

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Jun 12, 2015 10:02:02 GMT -5 oped said:

I think sometimes when it's used, and sometimes definitions/usage do chance over time, I think the way it is sometimes being used/misused is noting when one race/sex is institutionally favored over the others, or stereotyped.

Thus why the girl suggested it was 'sexist' to suggest that she was going to plan her life around boys. They were attributing a 'girl' trait to her that she felt was limiting.

So, in your estimation, we've actually evolved to the point where developing and progressing through life like a normal fucking person is a 'girl' trait and 'limiting'?

I think that suggesting a normal young girl might be interested in boys (or boys in girls, for that matter) is 'limiting' or sexist is absurd; and it is precisely this kind of absurdity that waters down the term 'sexist' so that it is just about meaningless.

[Deleted]

Are you sayng you want your daughter to plan her teen years/interests/activities around whether or not she can see boys? Are you suggesting that prioritizing 'seeing boys' is something you want your daughter to do? 

Im not sure it's watering down so much as 'moving the goal post'... You resolve one issue, or an issue to a certain degree, and then you work on the next degree. 

That generation doesn't have as much overt/abject isms. So they focus on the remaining issues they do see. 

[Deleted]

Jun 11, 2015 18:54:45 GMT -5 swamp said:

So this shows that one college kid and jerry Seinfeld daughter are stupid. And? 

It's not just one college kid.  Several comedians don't go to colleges because they are too politically correct.  It says a lot about the exchange of ideas on campus that comedians can't tell jokes because of the atmosphere.  College should be somewhere where students can figure out what they think, not be shut down when that thinking offends some crybaby.

[Deleted]

Maybe they are thinking that some kind of humor aren't very funny.

My grandfather thought calling waitresses honey and making lewd comments and telling N jokes was funny.  Times change. 

Now Seinfeld's daughter is saying she doesn't find being teased with the idea that she will soon turn into a boy crazy teenager to be funny. Times Change.

Have you watched the 21 Jump Street movie? Inane, but I laugh. There is a scene when the old 'cool kid' goes back to high school and starts telling the same jokes/doing the same pranks and the other kids shut him down as that is not cool. He wonders what the heck is happening and 'blames glee'...

I was reading Elizabeth Gilbert's In Defense of Teenagers post the other day and thought this was a telling passage "Today's American teenagers are the most sensitive, least violent, least bullying, least racist, least homophobic, most globally-minded, most compassionate, most environmentally-conscious, least dogmatic, and overall kindest group of young people this country has ever known."

Maybe they are thinking for themselves. And they just don't find it funny.

[zibazinski]

Jun 12, 2015 16:51:15 GMT -5 oped said:

Maybe they are thinking that some kind of humor aren't very funny.

My grandfather thought calling waitresses honey and making lewd comments and telling N jokes was funny.  Times change. 

Now Seinfeld's daughter is saying she doesn't find being teased with the idea that she will soon turn into a boy crazy teenager to be funny. Times Change.

Have you watched the 21 Jump Street movie? Inane, but I laugh. There is a scene when the old 'cool kid' goes back to high school and starts telling the same jokes/doing the same pranks and the other kids shut him down as that is not cool. He wonders what the heck is happening and 'blames glee'...

I was reading Elizabeth Gilbert's In Defense of Teenagers post the other day and thought this was a telling passage "Today's American teenagers are the most sensitive, least violent, least bullying, least racist, least homophobic, most globally-minded, most compassionate, most environmentally-conscious, least dogmatic, and overall kindest group of young people this country has ever known."

Maybe they are thinking for themselves. And they just don't find it funny.

I agree with some of Gilbert's statements but certainly not all. Love to hear from high school teachers on this forum. Also, the demographic they teach in. I can tell you the HS kids in East Grand Rapids might totally fit her description. The ones in the City of Grand Rapids? Not so much. I know teachers and students in both.