Case (
case) wrote in
fandomsecrets2013-09-23 06:59 pm
[ SECRET POST #2456 ]
⌈ Secret Post #2456 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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[China, Illinois]
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[The Mortal Instruments]
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[Community]
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[Hunter x Hunter, Senritsu/Melody]
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[Hetalia]
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[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]
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[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]
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[Ghostbusters]
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[Teen Wolf]
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[Malik Ishtar from Yugi-oh Duel Monsters]
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Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 000 secrets from Secret Submission Post #351.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - ships it ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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tldr: You're not white trash. You're just trash.
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-23 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)Hm. I had never considered that reading of it. I am not entirely sure I agree, but it's something I will now ponder.
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And calling them trash is sort of mean, especially since they have an abusive background.
Basically, I do agree the term is problematic, but maybe this is not the secret where you should have brought it up.
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-23 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)What? No. Saying you're "trash" versus saying you're "white trash" are two entirely different things with specific societal meanings, at least to Americans. The claim that the phrase "white trash" is somehow degrading to other races is ludicrous.
tldr: Can we agree on "trailer trash"? Or does that connote that people who live in houses are trash by default?
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-23 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 12:03 am (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-23 11:33 pm (UTC)(link)I agree that's true, but I also think that the origin of the term 'white trash' probably did have something to do with the dynamics of race and racism. And also class, obviously, which is the bigger reason not to use the term, that it's self-evidently classist.
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 12:04 am (UTC)(link)Oh, I'm not saying "white trash" isn't a problematic phrase. I'm just saying "trash" and "white trash" are not at all equivalent terms. OP seems to agree.
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 12:11 am (UTC)(link)no subject
http://thesocietypages.org/specials/white-trash/
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Yes, white trash is an ethnic slur but it's a specific ethnic slur.
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-23 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)Two things:
1.) I used this term specifically, because it's used many times in the show. I'm creating a semantic and contextual link using specific wording and loaded terms.
2.) I do have a problem with the term "white trash". I'm using it to specifically conjure the kind of social imagery that is embedded in that particular phrase, because I don't want to caveat everything under the sun in something that I'm already ashamed of. However, I admit that it was literally not even a consideration before you brought it up, and I apologize for being unthinking, and being insulting.
2a.) Do not ever call me trash. Ever. I don't know if you care, but in case you do, that truly and honestly hurt my feelings. You don't know me, you don't know what kind of person that I am, and I really don't think I deserve to be thought of as "trash".
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 12:28 am (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 12:59 am (UTC)(link)From what I can tell, you sound like an intelligent and considerate person. I'm sorry about your roommate situation and I hope with time, you don't have to deal with such thoughtless people. Hang in there, OP. Rooting for you!
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-23 11:35 pm (UTC)(link)I don't think most people think of it that way, though, so I'm not going to call them trash because they used the term, just point it out and suggest they might want to consider alternative vocabulary. I think 'trailer trash' occupies more or less the same niche. Or there's the broader 'lumpenproletariat', although I'm pretty sure no one actually uses that.
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 12:02 am (UTC)(link)"The term White trash first came into common use in the 1830s as a pejorative used by house slaves against poor whites. In 1833 Fanny Kemble, an English actress visiting Georgia, noted in her journal: "The slaves themselves entertain the very highest contempt for white servants, whom they designate as 'poor white trash'".[8][9]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_trash
Given the origins of the term, I really don't think it has the same racial undertone that you've suggested. It's a racially loaded term but it's not "you specify 'white trash' and so therefore it indicates that all other races are trash by default." It's certainly never had that implication in my understanding of the term. It's more like "red neck" which likewise touches on a very specific subsect of white (typically) southern United States culture.
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 12:19 am (UTC)(link)no subject
(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 12:39 am (UTC)(link)That being said, I find calling someone simply "trash" way more offensive than the phrase "white trash".
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(Anonymous) 2013-09-24 04:52 am (UTC)(link)