On insults
Dan Goodman
Life Imitates the Volokh Conspiracy:
Last Summer, I asked,
Can anyone who knows something about modern Greece tell me what (if
anything) the inhabitants of Lesbos -- Lesvos in modern Greek, I
believe -- think about the term "lesbian"? Do they perceive it as
annoying? Offensive? Amusing? Is there no dominant view on the subject?
...
A separate question, which might make some point, but which I
stress is analytically distinct from the empirical questions I ask
above: Say that the inhabitants of Lesbos find the term offensive.
Should others, including lesbians, try to shift to a different term? Or
should they go ahead with the term that they've used for a long time?
This Spring brings this lawsuit (from the AP):
Three islanders from Lesbos ... have taken a gay rights group to
court for using the word lesbian in its name.
One of the plaintiffs said Wednesday that the name of the
association, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, "insults the
identity" of the people of Lesbos, who are also known as Lesbians.
"My sister can't say she is a Lesbian," said Dimitris Lambrou. "Our
geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no
connection whatsoever with Lesbos," he said.
[Lambrou and two women] are seeking to have the group barred from
using "lesbian" in its name ....
Lambrou said the word lesbian has only been linked with gay women
in the past few decades. "But we have been Lesbians for thousands of
years," said Lambrou, who publishes a small magazine on ancient Greek
religion and technology that frequently criticizes the Christian
Church....
"Lesbian" as an Appellation d’origine contrôlée (a term closely linked
to the term "geographical designation" that Lambrou uses)? OK, not
quite, but still, intellectual property scholars should take note.
Thanks to How Appealing for the pointer.
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_04_27-2008_05_03.shtml#1209576907
--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
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Bill Penrose
> Three islanders from Lesbos ... have taken a gay rights group to
> court for using the word lesbian in its name.
Good luck to them. 99% of people didn't know where the term came from.
Now they all will. And they're likely wasting their time. It's like a
Spaniard suing England for calling the 1918 epidemic the Spanish Flu.
By the way, all the noise is coming from women? Are there any men
living on Lesbos? Just asking...
DB