[FlannelPancake]

In many cases, it's not even about the content of their messages. It's about a total lack of awareness, especially concerning their medium of speech. To me that's far more damning than an off-kilter joke or a moment of drunken stupidity.

Why would you say something really stupid like "FHRITP" to a reporter with a microphone? Or defend someone else saying that? Especially to a NEWS reporter?

Sure, blah blah blah, alcohol. If you're out of college and can't be drunk without saying some really monumentally stupid shit in a very public manner, that's worrisome. Are you going to act that way in front of a client or business partner if you go out drinking with them one night? Are you also going to say stupid shit like that at the company holiday party?

Admittedly some of these are out-of-context tweets or photos. That sucks to have your inside jokes taken out of context, for sure. At first, I think many of us internalize things like Twitter as "public-but-not-really", until things like this happen that remind us: If you don't intentionally make it private, social media like Twitter is VERY public. You probably wouldn't make that joke while giving a public speech - probably shouldn't make it on Twitter, unless you're extremely careful about the context.

[forgottenpass]

Why would you say something really stupid like "FHRITP" to a reporter with a microphone? Or defend someone else saying that? Especially to a NEWS reporter?

For the same reason people yell or minimize the yelling of "baba booey baba booey howard stern's penis."

It injects vulgar childish nonsense into a framework that presents itself as straitlaced uptight and self-serious. The primary offense dealt is not sexist, it's narcissistic injury.

[FlannelPancake]

Idk, that seems kinda specious to me (though I realize you're not necessarily defending the reasoning). If I yelled something racist into the microphone instead of "baba booey", very few people would shrug it off as "oh hah hah he's just being fun with the uptight reporter."

Which I guess proves my point even further - if you can't see the difference between the two and then decide to go on and vocalize this ignorance in front of a television reporter (rather than just keeping it contained to your social circle), maybe you shouldn't be in charge of anything important.

[forgottenpass]

If I yelled something racist into the microphone instead of "baba booey", very few people would shrug it off as "oh hah hah he's just being fun with the uptight reporter"

Well, that depends. There is a chance it could get laughed off (are you black and joking about athleticism, or did you roll up wearing a hood?). It rests on if the audience chooses to see what was said as racial or racist? Just like my previous post was largely about who interpreted FHRITP as sexist, vs just sexual.

if you can't see the difference between the two [...]

Of course you don't want someone that disagrees with you over X making decisions on Y and Z. They don't share your value system and perspective.

Everyone is going to draw their interpretations from different value systems, and place their boundaries on sexist/sexual and acceptable/unacceptable boundaries at different points. The conversations that result over these topics are largely rote and boring. Where someone finds their personal lines is going to correlated to the set of cable networks they watch.

[FlannelPancake]

> Well, that depends.

I don't know if it really does in this case, because...

> are you black and joking about athleticism

To extend our metaphor, the guy in the article is not black. He's very white and making a joke about segregation. To a public audience. While drunk. Then he decides to slip in a little slavery joke (i.e. the "you're lucky he didn't put a vibrator in your ear" part).

Again, if an adult is unable to see why it's a dumb decision to make that joke to a public, anonymous audience, then that person probably shouldn't be allowed to make any important decisions. They're clearly severely lacking in situational awareness.

> Of course you don't want someone that disagrees with you over X making decisions on Y and Z... Everyone is going to draw their interpretations from different value systems...

Ah, the old moral relativism argument. I think we're done here if that's what it's coming down to. You're right: That is a boring conversation to have.