- May 7, 2004
- 42,594
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Interesting that this is taken in a negative way. Like you can compliment a player on their physicality but rather than take the compliment you would question whether that means they're not also intelligent or skillful etc. That would be like someone calling you funny but assuming they must think you're ugly and stupid then. It's ok for people not to like the phrase but talking like people have to feel the same way is silly. Nobody is burying their heads in the sand over it just because they're not seeing the term in a negative light. It's down to the person whether to read something in a positive or negative way. I would think it was obvious the poster said it as a positive compliment. It's like the word Yid, some will never like it but I'm sure they know the intent behind it so they're not going to tell people not to use it. We're all a community on here but we don't have to all agree to what is right or wrong to say. The fact that the poster was criticized for it was unnecessary. I've seen phrases like ignorance as well as the idea of burying heads in the sand like it's conclusive that the word is wrong and we should all accept it. Some don't like it which is fair enough but there's no need to try and make people feel guilty when they don't feel the same way.The problem is with these examples is they only ever really get used when this debate comes up. I’ve honestly never heard anyone describe Terry, Nadal, or Dechambeau as “beasts” before. I very rarely, if ever hear about white athletes being described as beasts. And no, a WWE wrestler acting out the role of a beast doesn’t count.
The study that’s been mentioned (and ignored by people in here) shows that black sports people are overwhelmingly labelled using descriptors which highlight their physicality, whereas in white athletes, it’s intelligence and skill that are more likely to be highlighted.
I find beast in particular to be pretty dehumanising, you’re boiling a person down to animalistic terms and only focusing on their brute force. When it’s been pointed out by several black posters, using calm language and showing genuine research that’s been done into it, I find it more than a little disconcerting the way people hand waive and bury their heads in the sand over this.