Do I offend you?

I do not understand why people take offense at things. It seems that no matter what I hear or see or read, someone complains that they have been offended, and the next thing I know, a TV program is discontinued, a statue is covered up, a performance is changed so as not to offend.

I’m female and blonde; I’m Irish, French, German, and Polish; I’m 5′5″ and 165 pounds. You can make jokes about dumb blondes, about drunk Irish, about fat people, and I will probably laugh. Or I won’t. I might not find something funny, but I will doubtfully be personally offended. I know who I am and I know if what someone is saying is true about me or not. If it’s true, it certainly can’t offend me. The truth might hurt, and someone might have been nicer to me, but I’m not going to deny what’s true. It’s in accepting the truth that gives me the power to be above taking offense.

I don’t understand how one person’s being offended can actually cause consequences for others. If there is an art display of, for instance, a man standing behind a woman, nude, having sex with her, it’s not necessarily something I want to look at for hours on end, but if one person complains, I don’t think it should change the outcome. Why would that offend someone? If they don’t like it, they shouldn’t look at it. 

I’m just so tired of people using “I’m offended” as a way of controlling the world around them. Get over yourselves. If you’re offended by something someone says, it’s because you believe what they’re saying is true about you, and if you believe that, either accept it and move on, or do something to change your experience. And if you don’t believe it, then don’t waste your energy being offended. If you tell me I’m ugly, I might feel a little sad because I worry that I AM ugly. If you tell me I’m a dumb blonde, I know I’m not dumb, so that will bounce off of me. Plus, I choose to be blonde. I certainly feel different emotions based on what people say to me and what I hear and see, but I’m never offended.

When I watch TV, I can recognize those things that others would likely find offensive. Hell, I watch Family Guy. That is one of the most “offensive” and the FUNNIEST programs on television. The Simpsons often zings Unitarians, something else that I consider myself at times. And I laugh and laugh, because what they say is true, and it’s not bad (although some Christians might think it’s bad). If I thought it was bad, I woudn’t embrace it.

So, my message is to just get over it and laugh!