Gender. What is it with bloody gender these days and why are people so prissy about it? Don’t get me wrong, I am pleased for people to be who they want to be but if you innocently use the wrong term in a Facebook post or miss a letter from an acronym, you get pilloried by loads of oh-so-offended-and-holier-than-thou bog splatters. I swear that some people must do little else but sit in front of Facebook and Twitter all bloody day, just waiting for some poor bugger to make even the smallest and most innocent of errors, just so that they can dive in from behind the safety of their screens and act like complete wangers.
I know I come from a different generation but I just don’t get the fuss – what does it matter? Why has every statement, commercial, magazine, custom etc. got to be ‘all inclusive’ now? Saying anything at all is like walking through a minefield wearing snowshoes and it is getting bloody ridiculous. Someone called me a fat git the other day but I didn’t pin the guy to the wall and scream “I’m not in that group you ignorant swine – my Doctor says I’m obese, OK? I’m not overweight, cuddly, wobbly, lardy, chubby, big-boned, porky, fat or morbidly obese – I’m just obese, got it? If you’re going to mention me then make sure you put me in the right group because if you don’t well, you’ll be a nasty person and I’ll get really, really offended.”
Some time ago I believe London Underground changed their platform announcements so that they didn’t start with “Ladies & Gentlemen…” because some people had written letters to complain that it was too specific and ignored all other genders. If that is indeed true and people see fit to complain about such frippery then we are truly doomed as a species. And just out of curiosity, I’d like to know how these complaining ‘people’ on their pedestals began their complaint letters? Did they use ‘Dear Sir’ I wonder…..
I then see that ‘people’ want Santa to be female and James Bond to be trans or gender neutral. Whaaaaat?!? Who are these ‘people’? Don’t they understand that life simply isn’t all inclusive? Just because an attribute, belief or gender exists, it doesn’t mean that the world is duty bound to change entertainment, customs, history, literature etc so that everyone gets a shout! Grow up! It’s like me writing to Pinewood Studios to say I’m offended because James Bond isn’t an obese, cigarette smoking, cider drinker with a compulsion to tell stupid buggers to **** off and I have a right for this to be reflected in their next movie!!
One more thing before I go and sob quietly in a cupboard. Whoever is adding letters to that bloody acronym, just stop it OK, enough already. I think it started as LGB, then a T got added, then it morphed overnight into LGBTQ and the latest incarnation I’ve seen is ‘LGBTQ+’ ……WTF is that for?? If you want to stop being offended by people missing out a letter then stop changing the b*stard thing without telling people!!