Jon Gabriel
  • Home
  • Words
  • Media
  • Design
  • Contact

America the Offended

2/5/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
RICOCHET

If I'm going to succeed in this new America, I need to learn how to be offended. It’s not that I haven’t tried, but I sadly have neither pearls to clutch nor a fainting couch to collapse upon.

The past few days have provided a crash course in the new Politics of Offense:

  • Piers Morgan offended transgendered activists by saying that a woman who used to be a man used to be a man.
  • Jerry Seinfeld offended a Gawker writer by saying he's less concerned about a comedian's race than how funny he is.
  • Coca-Cola offended English-only activists by a multilingual rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
  • Joe Namath offended animal rights activists by wearing a fur coat to the Super Bowl.
  • MSNBC offended conservatives by assuming they would be offended by a Cheerios ad.
  • Non-white feminists offended white feminists by alleging that white feminists were offending non-white feminists.

Let me give everyone of all races, creeds, genders, sexual orientations, disabilities, income levels, academic backgrounds, and nationalities a brief piece of advice: You are only offended if you choose to be.

If someone insults me for who I am or what I believe, I don’t get hurt feelings, I just think that person is lame. Obviously he’s in the wrong, because I’m awesome. (Of my many admirable traits, humility is the greatest.)

Whenever I provide this sage advice, the perpetually offended reply, “Oh yeah?! Easy for you to say! You’re not [female/latino/gay/poor/gluten intolerant/etc.]!”

I agree that it's easy for me to say. I’m a healthy, middle-aged, middle-class hetero white male with an amazing wife and 2.5 kids. I’m one picket fence away from being a Norman Rockwell painting. Perhaps I'd have a different perspective if I belonged to an oppressed subgroup. But I don't understand how that makes the principle any less true.

Being offended all the time is exhausting and unhealthy. Life is too short and happiness too dear. A content person doesn’t surrender control of their emotional state and self-worth to others, especially not to far-off celebrities or anonymous strangers on the Internet. 
1 Comment
ohio
3/6/2014 11:59:29 am

I've been saying basically the same thing for years.

A century or two back, it was called "giving (or taking) offense," and that language works so well: If someone wants to "give" me offense, that doesn't mean I have to "take" it - instead, I can just leave that "gift" all wrapped up under the tree.

What ever happened to being "thick-skinned"? Didn't that used to be a virtue? It sure does make for a calmer life.

Thanks for this post!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Categories

    All
    Arizona
    Arizona Republic
    Art
    Business
    Buzzfeed
    Communication
    Culture
    Daily Caller
    Design
    Drugs
    Economy
    Education
    Energy
    Environment
    Family
    Food & Drink
    Freedomworks
    Free Speech
    Gender
    Guns
    Health Care
    Heartland Institute
    Humor
    Immigration
    International
    Journalism
    Military
    Music
    Neatorama
    NY Post
    Outrage
    Philosophy
    Photoshop
    Politics
    Red Tape
    Religion
    Ricochet
    Social Media
    Technology
    Unions
    USA Today
    Wall Street Journal

    RSS Feed

© 2017  Jon Gabriel. All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • Words
  • Media
  • Design
  • Contact