When last week I
went to a party, all of these aspects of an event that is rooted in our culture
were on my mind. And although they were all present, one situation shocked me
and made me reflect on the difference between generations:
The group of
friends attending the party had made some posters and stuck them all around
town. They had the purpose of saying Happy
Birthday to the girl throwing the party. What really left me speechless was
the content of those posters. The
title was: “Se busca negra inmigrante” and then, a list of offences such as
“ser una p#&%+”, “tener un sentido de la moda peor que un mendigo”, “dar
los peores consejos del mundo”. “apestar”, “ser lenta” etc. In the
end it stated that all was a joke and wished the girl a Happy Birthday.
After reading
such texts I felt terribly uncomfortable. I wondered if the birthday girl felt
flattered or insulted by it and if it was a common occurrence among teenagers.
Being there the entire weekend, I could see this group of friends interact
several times and I realised they communicated with each other making use of
words that for me are insults. They said “pelotuda”, “cabrona” and “boluda” as
if they were endearments.
This situation
made me question the use of those words. Do teenagers use these words with a
change in relation to the original meaning or is this type of communication a
veiled war of egos? Do they feel offended or flattered by them? Are they aware
of the real meaning of the words? Most of them did not even blink when talking
while making use of these specific words so I suppose they are attributing new
meanings to insults. Either way I would never consider an insult a term of
endearment and if someone refers to me in those terms I would stop them and ask
them to treat me with respect. I do not care if their reasons are good; if
somebody tells me “boluda” I will not hold them in high esteem.
What is your
opinion? Do you think words change their meaning according to the context? Are there
any words that you have heard said as a term of endearment but you consider
them not to be?
Interesting post Ailin! Actually, I do believe that certain words’ meanings change depending on the context. However, I don’t accept an insult as an endearment.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot deny that nowadays many things have changed, but sometimes I don’t know if we are advancing or if we are moving backwards. I’ve heard many times adolescents treating themselves by using insults, and that’s something that I still don’t understand. How can you feel loved by a friend who calls you “...” (an insult should be written here)? I just don’t get it.
And even when we generally blame teenagers for having this kind of behaviour, we must admit that most adults also treat themselves in those terms. So, if we don’t want disrespectful children and adolescents, we as adults, should be respectful among us. “Leading by example” is the key point.
That's right Dani. I've even heard men calling their wives names. If their children grow up witnessing that, they will see it as normal and think it's OK to treat other people the same way. I think we need to respect ourselves as well as other people and not allow that king of behaviour.
DeleteNice post!I didn´t know about that new way of saying “happy birthday” to the girl throwing the party. It left me astonished. However I know that adolescents communicate in a very “particular” way, using lots of insults but I don´t understand them, what is the need to use these words instead of nice words as it should be?. Perhaps they just depict the society in which we live. This is a more violent society in which it seems easier to communicate through violence or violent words and it gives the impression that it became old-fashioned to say nice words.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you but I'm still shocked whenever people treat others in a violent way. We can be an example by not allowing others to treat us that way and by always having a kind word for people who are nervous or having a bad day.
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