Do You Think That Cultural Differences Make People "Sensitive"?

It is a matter of whose ox is being gored. One thing that people who have never experienced discrimination do not understand is that once you have lost an opportunity for no other reason than someone else's bias, it is hard to look at things the same way again. That said, I think one of the worst things people can do is top play the cultural differences card at every turn. It becomes like the story of the little boy who cried wolf. It waters down the real issues and takes credibility away from legitimate claims of disparity. Here is an example. A lot of people use the term "Rule of Thumb" whereas I alway say "General Rule." Why? Because Rule of Thumb comes from an old law that men were allowed to beat their wives as long as the stick they used was no larger in circumference than the man's thumb. The theory was that poor men would do manual labor and have bigger thumbs and less delicate wives who could bear worse beatings. So every time I hear that term I scream inwardly. Sometimes outwardly. I cannot stand the idea that our language is filled with remnants of such an evil past. But many people consider my objection to the term petty. If I am overly sensitive to the term, than I say that they are overly sensitive to my objection. I cannot fathom why someone who knows the origin of such a term would continue to use it.

I would think that is the kind of thing you could say if you had lived in the country for an extended period of time, but not as an outsider. Really terrible example, I'm from NJ, the most overpopulated US state. If someone from Montana, etc said that Jersey is too populated, they should start sending people out, I would be annoyed. Somebody from Jersey could make the comment, and while I might disagree, it wouldn't get the same knee-jerk reaction from me. And there is always a way to get your point across and be tactful, so as far as just making a blanket statement, I would pick my battles! :-)

I'd have to say that today's diversified cultures have proven to be somewhat sensitive. There is always going to be some culture that is going to have a problem or stigma attached with certain stereotypes. You just can't get away from it. Saying a certain country is overpopulated, to me is just stating an opinion. I don't necessarily think that it warrants worrying about offense being taken.