Re: [Gendispatch] Diversity and Inclusiveness in the IETF

Fernando Gont <fgont@si6networks.com> Wed, 24 February 2021 18:24 UTC

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Subject: Re: [Gendispatch] Diversity and Inclusiveness in the IETF
To: Vittorio Bertola <vittorio.bertola=40open-xchange.com@dmarc.ietf.org>, Christian Huitema <huitema@huitema.net>
Cc: GENDISPATCH List <gendispatch@ietf.org>, "ietf@ietf.org" <ietf@ietf.org>
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From: Fernando Gont <fgont@si6networks.com>
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Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2021 15:23:42 -0300
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Hello, Vittorio,

On 24/2/21 14:47, Vittorio Bertola wrote:
[....]
> Then, I also suggest that the list is handed out to every new subscriber 
> of any IETF mailing list, because this is not the first time that I use 
> a perfectly normal term in my native language / environment and I find 
> someone jumping up and taking the issue as an offense (the last time was 
> with the term "militant", when chatting on this same issue).

I couldn't agree more with you.

Just to provide yet another example, last year it was argued on this 
list what greeting with "cheers" (as o¡in "bye") could also result 
offensive -- when I had always assumed that it was simply an informal 
and polite way of saying "bye".



> As a result, I am feeling like I should just stop participating in these 
> discussions for fear of using the wrong choice of language and getting 
> publicly shamed (and in my own culture, like in the Far East, in Arab 
> cultures and elsewhere, "saving your face" in public is paramount). So, 
> ironically, language correctness leads to self-censorship and exclusion.

Isn't there an implicit irony in expecting people from completely 
different cultures and origins, who do not speak the language natively, 
to speak their one's own language in a flawless manner, in the name of 
inclusiveness and diversity?

The fact that people pick one language (out of many, regardless of how 
prominent or widespread it may be), remove a few words, and dare to call 
it "inclusive language", in a way, still amuses me.

Thanks,
-- 
Fernando Gont
SI6 Networks
e-mail: fgont@si6networks.com
PGP Fingerprint: 6666 31C6 D484 63B2 8FB1 E3C4 AE25 0D55 1D4E 7492