There’s a new article out on Vice by Katie Way that argues “Americanizing someone’s name to make your life easier is at best lazy and at worst racist”:
Americanizing someone's name to make your life easier is at best lazy and at worst racist.https://t.co/lp6NPX0GP9
— VICE (@VICE) October 22, 2019
But it’s actually worse than the tweet above. What she’s complaining about are nicknames:
Stop Assigning Nicknames to Your Friends with ‘Ethnic’ Names
An example:
When Róisín (pronounced Row-sheen) moved to the United States from the United Kingdom for a job (she currently works for i-D in London), she found herself in possession of a new nickname as soon as she started spending time with people in social settings. “When I first moved [to New York], I was kind of embarrassed at being different in any way, so I just ran with it and was like, ‘Haha, yeah, whatever, it’s fine, I’m cool!’” she said over Twitter DM. “I didn’t wanna feel like a square or just come across as a dickhead. Now that I’m older, I’m like, ‘Guys, that’s not how you say my name, please, for the love of God, learn!’” Some of her American acquaintances still call her “Rowsh,” which she said she’s grown to like, even if she doesn’t love the logic behind it. “I know it’s because they can’t say Róisín and I did not consent to that!!!”
And if you thought the writer’s name sounded familiary, it’s because she’s the one behind that Aziz Ansari hit piece a few years ago:
The byline sounded familiar… it's the Babe Dot Net reporter https://t.co/qfVfUMWDN4
— Halloween Name Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) October 22, 2019
So, which is it Katie?
This is at best a frivolous conflating of friendly shortening with workplace targeting, at worst a cynical ploy for attention and traffic via deliberately playing on people's fears and stoking resentment by conflating those things in order to sow profitable division in society. https://t.co/ohHQ5QqKAw
— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) October 22, 2019
Hey, this model worked for Babe.net:
More than 2.5 million people have read the Babe article about Aziz Ansari so far. A record for the site. Details here… https://t.co/ca6zsv0IRZ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 16, 2018
That is, until Babe.net went out of business:
The demise of Babe-dot-net, the publishers of the notorious Aziz Ansari story, is a descent into New Media Hell, where young journalists are underpaid, unsupported, ruthlessly exploited and, finally, unemployed. Expertly told by @AllisonPDavis: https://t.co/v7M8YSmJax
— Scott Tobias (@scott_tobias) June 24, 2019
Everyone is racist!
From now on I need all you Hungarophobes to put the do-dad over the second "a" in my name: Harsányi. https://t.co/UKVIDpaaJS
— David Harsanyi (@davidharsanyi) October 22, 2019
And we’ll end it with this:
Mind your own business, dork https://t.co/qkWbV4sNJR
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) October 22, 2019
***
Related:
'Holy sh*tballs'! https://t.co/R6c7banNuk writer totally LOST IT after Ashleigh Banfield criticized Aziz Ansari piece https://t.co/VOI32deOz7
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 17, 2018
Women are fighting over that Aziz Ansari hit piece? Mother Jones reporter blames the patriarchy https://t.co/p6sopEp6Fx
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 17, 2018
Website that brought you Aziz Ansari article has a new female 'hero' (Warning: It involves a sex toy) https://t.co/1BczuPU0CM
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 18, 2018
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