Language Conventions
My language conventions aren't that complex, but I would like to give them their own subheadings:
- Gender-neutral language: I use singular they for persons of unknown pronoun preferences. For most others I use preferred pronouns, including retroactive preferred pronouns; this means for instance if somebody transitions from male to female, I will not refer to her as "he" even if I'm talking about an event that happened pre-transition.
- Majority rules: When it comes to communities I am not a part of, I will almost always use the vernacular preferred by the majority, except in individual cases where that is not preferred. For instance, although there's a strong current of people who dislike it, I usually use people-first language to refer to people with disabilities.
- Preferred identity labels: When somebody has an identity label that is not accepted vernacular in their community, I will use it for them and them alone unless that identity is crafted specifically to oppress another. For example, I will refer to male Witches as "Warlocks" if they wish, but I will not refer to cisgender women as "women born women" because that identity was specifically created to demean transgender women.
- Linguistic equity: Especially when it comes to religious terminology, I practice linguistic equity, meaning I do my best to use the same terminology for a majority group that I would use for a minority group. For instance, I capitalize "Gods," "Goddess," and even "Deities" because people typically capitalize "God" when referring to Christianity... even when it's not used as a title.
My collection of personal information is largely to help with targeted writing of essays and simple curiosity. I like to see what essays draw readers to my blogs so that I can write more or less on certain subjects depending on demand, and the types of search cues used have really helped give me an impression of the social climate I'm working in. I also use the same site statistics to see what websites and blogs are driving traffic to me, which is an important way I get site feedback. I do not, however, sell information.
No Comments Policy
I have been a proud advocate of the No Comments Policy ever since I ran a now-defunct blog called "Queer Subversion" where I regularly was subjected to personal attacks and petty bullshit, and that was only after I weeded out the ludicrous amount of spam. This is a policy that has garnered a lot of criticism from people who are perturbed that I have blocked one of their favorite channels of abuse. Remember that a personal blog is personal space... I am under no obligation to give people a forum just because they want it. I gain feedback voluntarily by checking out where my blog traffic is coming from.
