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In some cases, references to bigoted activity are essential to the question itself:

However, I saw a question today from IPS that made me wonder about how we can best follow community guidelines across the site. This question includes a flippant reference to pornography use.

The line is irrelevant and will likely be edited out soon to avoid distracting from the question. That isn't relevant to this question, which is largely theoretical. What I am asking is specifically about non-essential lines or comments referencing discriminatory or harmful activity against certain groups. Is that against the CoC?

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    So in what way does the example of porn in the IPS question offend the CoC according to you?
    – Luuklag
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:44
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    This would fall under the category of No bigotry. "We don’t tolerate any language likely to offend or alienate people based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion — and those are just a few examples."
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:45
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    @Luuklag it's offending the OP, hence they're asking if it's also against the CoC i.e. if they can flag such questions. That's how I see it, at least.
    – Shadow The GPT Wizard
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:45
  • @ShadowWizardSaysNoMoreWar this type of language is offensive to all women.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:47
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    @ribs2spare I would disagree, as it appears OP in that example on IPS is a woman, and one of the answerers there is too, neither took offence on the example. Also I don't see how an example is non-essential to that question.
    – Luuklag
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:48
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    How is it offensive to all women? I'm really confused - as a woman... also, the person asking that question appears to be a woman, based on their avatar. I may not generally care for porn but I don't feel that it's immediately offensive.
    – Catija StaffMod
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:48
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    @Catija There are black people who use the n-word and gay people who use the f-, d-, and q-words. Is this language considered appropriate as long as it is coming from someone who purports to be part of the group? Maybe it is. I am just looking for clarification. The answer could very well be that this type of language is completely acceptable.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:50
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    @Catija I had included in my initial post links to a source about the harms of porn. I can link more if that's helpful. I was hoping this would not devolve into a debate about whether media which objectifies and degrades women is offensive or bigoted.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:51
  • @ribs2spare there will always be edge cases. So there won't be a blanket using this and that word is acceptable. It all depends on the circumstances. If you feel offended by the use of a certain word or phrase, feel free to flag the content and explain yourself.
    – Luuklag
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:52
  • @Luuklag I wasn't asking about specific words. I was asking about references to discriminatory or bigoted activity that are not essential to the question. If the answer is, you can flag whatever you want and it's ultimately up to the mods, then that's the answer. This isn't about how I personally feel about a specific post.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:53
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    Is there bad porn - absolutely. Is there good porn that is female-positive and also sought out by women... most definitely! Not all porn is bad. Your personal feelings about porn are valid but that doesn't make it immediately a CoC violation to even mention porn.
    – Catija StaffMod
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:54
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    @Catija, I think I am getting, through drips and drops, something of an answer to the question. I'm not here to debate whether porn can be good; the research is out, and it can't be. Whether you like it yourself or are coping with the fact that so many others do is not what I'm asking here. I am regretting using porn as an example but haven't seen any recent throw-away lines about racist or anti-LGBT activity that would be less divisive.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:57
  • I am getting the sense that the potentially bigoted nature of throw-away lines is not relevant to the CoC. The answer seems to be to remove all extraneous information regardless of its content and not to consider the impact on various groups when doing so.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 13:58
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    "The line is irrelevant and will likely be edited out soon" > Besides what Catija already excellently pointed out about how mentioning watching pornography isn't against the CoC, this is another point where you're just wrong. The line gives an idea of what OP is planning to do/has thought of doing to handle their problem, which makes it relevant. I wrote an answer there specifically addressing that particular sentence, because it is a good example of what would be a 'wrong'/'awkward' thing to mention.
    – Tinkeringbell Mod
    Apr 13, 2022 at 14:59
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    I think you do not understand what the word "bigot" (or its derivative, "bigoted") means. And, ironically, you seem to be quite bigoted about pornography (in the sense of being obstinately and unreasonably attached to a belief/opinion, especially one which is antagonistic to the norms of a community/society). It's fine if you don't choose to watch it, but it merely existing and/or being mentioned in an example is not offensive, nor a Code of Conduct violation.
    – Cody Gray - on strike
    Apr 14, 2022 at 0:28

2 Answers 2

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Every community should discuss how they want to handle situations where potentially offensive or sensitive topics are important to the question or answer. Here is a good discussion from ELU about an example used in an answer that was unintentionally offensive.

A different site might have a different answer to how such examples should be handled based on their subject matter and their community norms. Gratuitously or extremely offensive material is always a violation though.

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  • The linked post was really helpful. It answered exactly what I was asking. Thank you for taking the time to weigh in.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 14:00
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Generally, no.

Especially on sites like workplace and academia, these subjects are sometimes at the core of the user's question.

There's no reason a user couldn't describe the fact that there is a conflict in the office about some employees having to filter out porn from user-submitted content...

That fact isn't offensive or insulting, it just "is".

I mean, if we couldn't discuss that, we couldn't even discuss the fact we can't discuss it.

So, to answer your question:

Just because it's a "bad word" doesn't mean we can't have a constructive post about it. The mention of "bad word" also isn't automatically "discriminatory or harmful".

If it's actually redundant, it could be edited out, but first consider if it's not just a knee-jerk reaction to it being a "bad word".

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    This is not at all what the question is about. I made it clear that content which involves these topics as essential information are not part of this question.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 14:02
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    You provided an example and I answered your question using that example...
    – Cerbrus
    Apr 13, 2022 at 14:03
  • you ignored the first sentence before the bullet points and the use of "However" in the paragraph after them.
    – ribs2spare
    Apr 13, 2022 at 14:03

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