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Arts & crafts

Be careful how you describe your knitted toys!

(21 Posts)
Sarnia Tue 23-Feb-21 17:53:17

An elderly lady from Shropshire and now living in Australia took up knitting toy pigs after the death of her husband. She has been taken to task by Facebook for 'hate speech' because she described them as white pigs which is exactly what they are; small porkers knitted from white wool. Is it me or has the world gone PC crazy?

Anniebach Tue 23-Feb-21 17:59:50

So I wouldn’t be allowed to speak of a black stallion I watch from my living room window ?

ExD Tue 23-Feb-21 18:00:15

Groan.
So many people seem to be actively looking for slights these days, its become almost laughable, if it wasn't so frightening.
'Hate Speech' indeed! Words fail me.

Ilovecheese Tue 23-Feb-21 18:05:18

Facebook is not exactly a person though is it, this will have been an algorithm. I believe bird watchers sometimes have similar problems with certain blue birds.

BlueBelle Tue 23-Feb-21 18:24:15

Well I suppose there is a connection as pigs always have a bad press people are ‘arrogant pigs’ police if hated are called ‘pigs’
Someone who is greedy and overeats is called a pig so the white pig could easily be taken the wrong way although of course it wouldn’t havent entered your head when making them and these words aren’t censored by a real person it would be flagged up as a derogatory term

I ve never heard anyone use a white or black stallion as a put down to a policeman or a greedy or arrogant person
Policeman comes up to drug addict in the street drug addict shouts to policeman you white stallion .....nah doesn’t have the same ring to it does it ? ?

Ro60 Tue 23-Feb-21 18:45:43

?? Yup the world's gone mad. But the poor lady!

Ilovecheese - some years ago we had blue-tits nesting. We spent many hours watching tnem. My DH delighted in telling me he loved my tits ?

BlueBelle Tue 23-Feb-21 19:20:57

You just don’t realise how the fb thing works it not a person sitting there reading all the remarks If I was referring to my dog and said I had to tie up my white bitch it would get removed not because there’s anything wrong with what I said (or with the world) , but because certain words would cause automatic removal Surely thats understandable

Redhead56 Tue 23-Feb-21 19:21:17

I described my beautiful little twin granddaughters (same) colouring as me on another post. I was sent a pm from someone who I have never seen on any threads. Telling me I was stereotyping a certain hair colour and personality! angry

sodapop Tue 23-Feb-21 19:28:14

There's always one Redhead sad isn't it,

Witzend Tue 23-Feb-21 19:31:33

It would seem that some people just aren’t happy unless they’ve got something to be outraged/offended by. I think they must actively look for them and pounce with glee when they find one.

Millie22 Tue 23-Feb-21 21:05:13

Oh how ridiculous.

welbeck Wed 24-Feb-21 00:16:25

i dislike the american terminology for soft toys; they call them stuffed animals, which sounds like something horrific from a taxidermist, certainly not suitable for the nursery.

Galaxy Wed 24-Feb-21 00:22:42

Yes bluebelle is right it's a system set up to filter words, most workplaces in particular those who support children have them. It's nothing to do with people seeking offence.

GrannyRose15 Wed 24-Feb-21 01:03:06

I once had an e-mail rejected. I was trying to contact a friend and wish him Good Luck in a forthcoming exam. His company challenged my e-mail because they thought it might be about gambling!!

B9exchange Wed 24-Feb-21 08:58:05

I had a friend, outraged by the knowledge that GCHQ monitor all emails, used to send me emails with the words bomb or grenade in them. We could imagine some poor soul in Cheltenham having to spend days going through rubbish emails that had been hauled in by their system!

Grannybags Wed 24-Feb-21 09:29:54

My son, a police officer, often gets called a pig (and usually a lot worse!) but I'm sure he's be quite pleased to be described as a stallion!!

Grannybags Wed 24-Feb-21 09:30:21

he'd not he's

BlueBelle Wed 24-Feb-21 09:31:55

grannybags my point entirely ?

Chestnut Wed 24-Feb-21 10:02:30

I agree the system is flagging up these things, not individual people, and I would rather a few innocent entries got caught in the net if it means thousands of offensive ones get removed. The internet can be such a vile and dangerous place, and any attempt to keep it safe is okay by me.

nanna8 Wed 24-Feb-21 10:59:41

Can someone please explain to me what is offensive about a redhead? I have one little granddaughter who is a redhead and everyone admires how she looks and how pretty her hair is.
Is this something British that no one else in the world knows about ?

Blinko Wed 24-Feb-21 11:08:12

Ah yes, Facebook. It's American and it shows! Their algorithms are clearly set up to chime with the American outlook on life and insults.

Here in the Black Country, one of our local history groups has recently stood up to the all conquering Facebook and won its case! The Facebook algorithm didn't appreciate our local delicacy, faggots and peas.

Of course the word faggot has a totally different meaning in the good ole US of A. So FB came down on our local group like a ton of bricks.

FB needs to recognize that not every damn thing is American.