I don’t like the words nigger and bitch. Music that uses these lyrics is a turn-off for me. Despite their use in contemporary popular culture, its impossible for me to disassociate the negative connotations. Lately at Medici University, a lot of these lyrics are being played in heavy rotation at Katyperryopolis and elsewhere around campus. In previous posts here at MU Talk, community standards have been discussed. The University does and should contain the whole universe, good and bad, but I’m against accepting the bad and not speaking out about it. In the framework of an educational institution, I think it’s important to discuss topics like this. I’m no ethnomusicologist, but I do know a bit about racism, sexism and intolerance.
Its pretty easy to make the case against “the use of derogatory or demeaning language or images in reference to another Resident's race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation” as that language is embedded in the big six community standards of Second Life. Further, the verbiage “communicating or behaving in a manner which is offensively coarse, intimidating or threatening, . . . likely to cause annoyance or alarm, is harassment” also applies here. The Medici University Community Standards draft proposal has not received a whole lot of discussion. But the implications of its importance are once again clear.
I am not proposing specifically banning anyone or anything or committing to censorship. But in the context of our virtual community, I am proposing we think a bit about what we are doing, what we are saying and how we are editorializing (pointedly, as DJs, artists and bloggers). For some, Second Life (and by extension Medici University in Second Life) is a utopian model community. For others, it is the opposite, a dystopia - everything bad about the universe, pixellated, exaggerated, hidden behind anonymous avatars, and void of responsibility. For our virtual community to evolve into something worth pursuing, the clash of cultures and clash of contexts needs to be thought out, analyzed and discussed.
Some will say that nigger and bitch are accepted words by the mainstream “culture industry”, heard around the world in English-language music videos and on the radio, reflective of their respective subcultures. However those contexts and subcultures clash in Medici University in Second Life. One cannot assume these lyrics will not offend. Yes I turn that music off in real life when I come across it. And yes, I will request the DJ play other songs and other types of music when I encounter it. We ought to pause and reflect on whether we can do better in our virtuality than to simply mirror that “reality”.
- This post was originally written for Medici University in Second Life (http://mediciuniversity.co.uk/) under the pseudonym Tiffany Mosienko
