So recently there’s been an absolute shitstorm in one of the fandoms I formerly involved myself with. I no longer involve myself with that fandom or the performers behind it because of this shitstorm. But all of this got me thinking about people being offensive for the sake of being offensive (because HUHUHUHU IT’S FUNNY YOU GUYS). Basically? Don’t do it. You’re probably going to lose at least one friend, and if you’re a public figure? Yeah that’s gonna completely fuck up your image.
There’s a way to do “offensive” right, and you know how you do that? You have tact.
Please note: the following example could prove triggering if you have struggled with self-harm. Please skip to the next example if mentions of self-harm trigger you.
An example of just plain offensive: Posting a picture of yourself with your hair dyed black and hanging in your face, black eyeshadow and eyeliner smudged around your eyes, and then captioning it “I’m going to start an emo band, but I don’t think I cut myself enough to do so yet. Maybe I’ll carve a word into my arm with a nice sharp spoon.”
That is offensive. That is offensive for the sake of being offensive, especially if you are marketing yourself or your product toward teenagers.
An example of offensive with tact: Speaking candidly about a celebrity who was well-known for not being entirely mentally stable, and mentioning that had something gone wrong when they were holding their small child over the edge of a balcony by the foot, it would’ve really cemented the crazy- not to mention the baby.
It’s still offensive, but at least it’s not specifically singling out one group of people who have enough bullshit to go through.
In less irritating news, my professional hiatus (which was not announced here because reasons) ends in six days, and you know what that means? Albuquerque. Albuquerque is going to be getting its final rewrite here in just more than a week, still shooting for the original release date and everything.
So there’s that.
