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Since when did offending someone become a crime?

It seems as if one of the worst things to do today is to 'offend' someone. :confused:

If someone says something about anything, the media will report the hundreds of people who were 'offended' by this event.

If a comedian tells a slightly 'edgy' joke, people are offended. :angry:

What's wrong with offending someone? It's not a crime (unless you actually DO commit a crime such as incite racial hate or homophobia, which of course is illegal and deserves consequences).

I'm not a confrontational person so I don't get accused of 'offending' anyone, but there are too many whiners out there who get offended by everything.

What do you think?

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Reply 1

najinaji

I don't understand it either. For example, I was offended by the story in the press about the young transsexual girl a while back (and by reporting about transsexualism overall for that matter), but the only reason I thought the law should have been involved is because of the age of the child and the fact that they were 'outed' without permission. If someone wants to go on about 'scrounging trannies' in the paper, it's distasteful, but it should be allowed.

Reply 2

madders94

On one hand, it's never nice to insult people, and it's never nice to feel like you're insulted - but, when it is something like a joke, as opposed to straight-out bullying where it's just walking up to someone and being mean to their face, people have the choice to avoid it. Don't like offensive jokes? Don't listen, or don't read them, and don't go on websites like Sickipedia and then complain about the content.

Reply 3

bssjonny

I totally agree. Commedians such as Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle are always accused of offending people. But honestly who in their right mind would watch their shows or go to their gigs if they are easily offended.
I think people need to grow up. They teach you when you're a kid, "stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me", yet now im older i find all i read in the papers is grown adults getting upset about something somebody has said on tv.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 4

College_Dropout

When i see in the paper is says X thousand of people have complained about something shown on TV, I think to myself what kind of sad pathetic idiots go out of there way just to complain.

Reply 5

Politricks

Original post by College_Dropout

When i see in the paper is says X thousand of people have complained about something shown on TV, I think to myself what kind of sad pathetic idiots go out of there way just to complain.

The people who go out their way to complain kind of sad pathetic idiots do

Reply 6

Greenlaner

Lets face it, a lot people these days are just complete and utter wimps. There was a time when such people were just told to harden the **** up and deal with it. I guess somewhere along the line some bright sparks decided to start pandering to these pussies of society.

Reply 7

WhuTom

Sums it up nicely, whether it's for the purpose of comedy or something controversial in the news/media.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 8

GottaLovePhysics! :)

Original post by najinaji

For example, I was offended by the story in the press about the young transsexual girl a while back (and by reporting about transsexualism overall for that matter) .

Out of intrest, why are you offended by it being reported?

Reply 9

MrJon

it's about who we offended.

I think we all know who wer aren;t allowed to offend or speak of...

Reply 10

NB_ide

Original post by OmnipotentOmelette

What's wrong with offending someone? It's not a crime (unless you actually DO commit a crime such as incite racial hate or homophobia, which of course is illegal and deserves consequences).

So even you are opposed to offending people on account of their "race" or sexuality, yes? So imagine that feeling, and know that some people are similarly offended about other topics as well.

And "offending" someone by any means can in fact be a crime, the law surrounding it is extremely vague and open to interpretation. But in the current climate you are much more likely to get into trouble for race-related comments, then those relating to people's preferred sexual practices, followed perhaps by gender issues.

Reply 11

najinaji

Original post by GottaLovePhysics! :)

Out of intrest, why are you offended by it being reported?

It's often reported about in a highly insensitive way and with a lot of untruths littered about the article (i.e. so-and-so pretends to be a girl). It's also often mentioned in cases that are completely irrelevant to the subject of the story. I remember reading an article about a woman that was given a caution for impersonating Jordan on the internet or something like that, but she was introduced as 'transsexual So-and-so Thingymabob', rather than just 'So-and-so Thingymabob'.

I think if someone gives their permission for that information to become public, then fair enough, but in the case of the girl a month or so back, she was five years old, and there is no way she could have given lawful consent to the release of that information. There is now a risk of her being targeted and surrounded by that stigma for a very long time, which could have been avoided were she allowed to discreetly transition (which could have meant that her transsexual stigma could have disappeared once she got to secondary school, and she could have just been a normal girl).

Original post by I wish there was a

Should nudism become legal?

I believe it should be.

Reply 12

username927016

Original post by I wish there was a

Should nudism become legal?

I think it should be personally as it's their own body but the evolution of society (i.e being more sexually aware) has led to it being taboo. Say someone is really unattractive & has a bad dress sense, should that then mean they cannot go out in public? The unfortunate thing in this case is that the majority wins.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 13

navarre

I too get annoyed when someone gets offended- especially when religion is involved.

We all know that religious people take every opportunity and put in as much effort as possible to get offended. Considering most religious beliefs are offensive to me (and indeed are insulting to humanity), I do find it incredibly hypocritical of religious people when they do this.

Reply 14

raptor_man

What you have to consider is who is in control of peoples emotions, the people themselves, only they can be offended or not.It is not in my power to offend someone, as it is their own emotions.its also down to personal interpretation. Where someone would be offended, another may not.The subject matter may be distasteful, but it is in your power to ignore it, being offended is irrelevant.

Reply 15

norton321

Original post by OmnipotentOmelette

It seems as if one of the worst things to do today is to 'offend' someone. :confused:

If someone says something about anything, the media will report the hundreds of people who were 'offended' by this event.

If a comedian tells a slightly 'edgy' joke, people are offended. :angry:

What they mean is, what you have said is not in line with their agenda.

I get what you mean!

People get offended too easily these days over simple things - even jokes or comments that are about something I relate to, I just laugh and move on, yet there are people who take it to heart and kick up a huge fuss about it which I really don't think is necessary.

Its getting to the point where sometimes when I need to describe someone based on appearance (because I don't know their name), I'm wary of using their skin colour for fear of being called 'racist' even though it's literally just pointing out what the colour is to make it easier to understand who I'm talking about 😐😐😐😐

Reply 18

F your feelings

It's a joke if you can't offend someone then you don't have freedom of expression and speech

Reply 19

hannah00

Original post by F your feelings

It's a joke if you can't offend someone then you don't have freedom of expression and speech

So your saying consumers should be forced to buy products and consume media containing jokes they dont like wtf ???

Freedom of Speech applies to the CPS not prosecuting you, it doesn't apply to groups of citizens boycotting people with jokes they dont like