When a dictionary definition becomes hate speech

[Dr. Jai Maharaj]

When a dictionary definition becomes hate speech

By Melanie McDonagh
The Spectator, spectator.co.uk
September 26, 2018

So, when does a dictionary definition count as hate speech?
When it's the dictionary definition of a woman --
'woman/noun/adult human female' -- and it's on a poster in
Liverpool during the Labour Party conference, that's when,
silly.

Admittedly, the idea, courtesy of a female blogger, Kellie-
Jay Keen Minshull, to put the definition up on a £700
billboard for the duration of the conference seems a little
eccentric. 'I wanted it to stimulate debate,' she said. The
conversation she had in mind was probably about the gender
pay gap, all female parliamentary shortlists, Twitter abuse
of female politicians, all the usual stuff that gets
feminists worked up at these events. I'm only guessing
here, but I imagine the definition was meant to provoke
reflection about whether the mere fact of qualifying the
noun human with the adjective female should lead to
different life outcome for the adults in question from that
of other adults, male. Dunno. Just a thought.

Alas, the conversation turned out short lived because the
posters provoked the scrutiny of one Adrian Harrop, who is
not only a GP but has the altogether darker calling of
'Activist'. He accused the billboard company that hosted
the offensive definition of being complicit 'in the spread
of transphobic hate speech'. Naturally, the company
capitulated and promised to remove the offending poster
ASAP. Result!

But Mrs Keen-Minshull is not a happy adult human female.
She takes the view that her freedom of speech has been
curtailed and moreover that 'we're in a new realm of
misogyny when the word 'woman' becomes hate speech'. Not
just that, I'd say. We've arrived at a moment when language
itself has ceased to convey meaning, when all debate is
null because we do not have access to words in which to
conduct it.

It's already the case that the mere facts of biology have
been discounted in this preposterous public discussion -- a
philosophy student at Durham was disciplined for tweeting
the observation that 'women don't have penises', which
until about five minutes ago would have been a statement of
the obvious. At the risk of inflaming the situation, let me
reiterate it: women don't have penises -- if they did,
they'd be men.

Continues at:

https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/09/when-a-dictionary-definition-becomes-hate-speech/

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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