Use of the word 'Jap' - is it offensive?

^ Yup, I saw another poster like that too. It used the word "jap" (I think it was beat the japs or something, not sure) and they drew japanese people to look like monkeys.

YO ppl!! whats up!! i was really interested this blog! because i was thinking about the same thing!! except for caucasion ppl!!

I am a JAP!!! 100% all of my family is from Japan and most of my relatives live in Japan! the only thing is that I was born in Canada so my nationality is Canadian but i have 100% Japanese blood in me! (Okinawan to be more exact) Right now I am going to high school in Japan...but when I was in Canada my town was small and full of mainly caucasion and native people. My family was the only Japanese in town....so naturally the only asian ppl going to the high school in town were me and my older sister. Sometimes my friends would call me a Jap or a chink..hell even I called myself a Jap. and I didnt mind, actually i liked it..because thats what I am and Im proud of that! I love being Japanese! :metaldevil: (not all the japanese ppl in this forum may agree with me...but thats how it was for me....maybe it because i was popular in my school so i thought being asian had something to do with that etc.)
are white ppl offended if you call them white?

here a little disclaimer i found (about history as such)

http://thefanlistings.org/warn_historyroyalty.php

in howl's castle (movie), there are no japanese flags, or political incorrect illustrations.

in my opinion, hollywood rewrites the past, and it is not an easy task.

i am not from north america, but europe. we do not use to call american's "AMI", it is mega-out (however the usage "AMI" occured after the 2nd world war).

i have never ever seen "date hot AMI woman" or something.
in french, "ami" means friend.

just saying there are other people who find history just boring. but it remains interesting for a minority.

I think it is offensive

Shinda wrote:I think it is offensive

I also didn't know that until my japanese exchange partner told me so.
I used that as a short form of Japanese in a Mail but he told me that it's really offensive. I was soooo sorry... :doh: so I'm not gonna use it any more. I have absolutely no intend to insure any Japanese people with that...

The term jap doesn't contain any negative or positive value in it's own definition,
it's only short for japanese,
which should mean that if you think jap is offensive
you've got something against the term japanese aswell.

In some cultures the term jap is pejorative though.
But that is because of their history.
American soldiers during wwii calling the enemy japs,
and with the good relations with the US,
not many in japan wants to be considered it's enemy.
Hegemonic cultures tend to set the standard for other cultures,
when the centre culture has a view of 'jap' as something
closer to the representation of 'them', the peripheral cultures
internalise that idea in it's own ideals.


For me, it's all in how you use it.
It's an objectively descriptive term.
You can use it in a sentence that has a positive value;
'I love everything about jap culture'.
It doesn't really put you in the high ground doing so though,
I mean, just look at Eminem and his statements toward his black friends. :D

yidaki wrote:The term jap doesn't contain any negative or positive value in it's own definition,
it's only short for japanese,
which should mean that if you think jap is offensive
you've got something against the term japanese aswell.

In some cultures the term jap is pejorative though.
But that is because of their history.
American soldiers during wwii calling the enemy japs,
and with the good relations with the US,
not many in japan wants to be considered it's enemy.
Hegemonic cultures tend to set the standard for other cultures,
when the centre culture has a view of 'jap' as something
closer to the representation of 'them', the peripheral cultures
internalise that idea in it's own ideals.


For me, it's all in how you use it.
It's an objectively descriptive term.
You can use it in a sentence that has a positive value;
'I love everything about jap culture'.
It doesn't really put you in the high ground doing so though,
I mean, just look at Eminem and his statements toward his black friends. :D

That's just the point, though.

It's not whether YOU feel offended if someone uses it, it's whether or not THE OTHER person feels offended by it.
The above statement sounds very selfish to me in the sense that you feel as if "it only matters what you think about certain words."

Every word in every language starts out neutral.
It's how we use them that makes them offensive or not. It's the history of the word and how it was used in the past that denotes whether it has any offensive meaning or not.

Take the word "bitch," for example.

All it really means is [i]a female dog[/].
It's our history that has made the word offensive in the way that most people use it today.

What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter whether you yourself are offended by the word or not.
The fact remains that OTHER people definitely find it offensive, and that's why you shouldn't use it.

‘‰¤š

kokuou wrote:That's just the point, though.

It's not whether YOU feel offended if someone uses it, it's whether or not THE OTHER person feels offended by it.
The above statement sounds very selfish to me in the sense that you feel as if "it only matters what you think about certain words."

Every word in every language starts out neutral.
It's how we use them that makes them offensive or not. It's the history of the word and how it was used in the past that denotes whether it has any offensive meaning or not.

Take the word "bitch," for example.

All it really means is [i]a female dog[/].
It's our history that has made the word offensive in the way that most people use it today.

What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter whether you yourself are offended by the word or not.
The fact remains that OTHER people definitely find it offensive, and that's why you shouldn't use it.

‘‰¤š

good explaination, K. My thoughts exactly. :applaud:

shichif wrote:^ Yup, I saw another poster like that too. It used the word "jap" (I think it was beat the japs or something, not sure) and they drew japanese people to look like monkeys.

(a lttle late) thats why they call it propaganda.

J~bOi wrote: are white ppl offended if you call them white?

To be honest, I wouldn't be offended at all if someone called me 'white' or even 'whitey' because its true...I am white :victory:. If I got offended by that wouldn't it mean I'm admitting being white is a bad thing? Then they would continue calling people it because they got a reaction from it and thats what turns it into a bad word. So personally I'd take it for it's literal meaning. It would be like someone pointing at me and saying 'haha you caucasian!' I would just feel like saying 'yeah, that is very true..and?'

On topic though, although I don't use the word 'jap' myself, I don't really see it as being offensive. Like I said above calling someone a jap is just calling them japanese and theres nothing offensive about that. If people are offended by it that's up to them and would call them whatever they wished to be called. However, I think that if your proud of your own culture then you can't be insulted by it.

sarujin wrote:Hello!


While I am aware that most people in the US are not aware that the term is a racial slur, let alone people in other countries, I still feel a jolt every time I read or hear it. I understand that it is not usually meant in a derrogatory way but that doesn't change the way I feel. So, I try to explain, whenever possible, why the term should not be used. I believe that if most people knew the emotional cost of using a word like that they would take pains to avoid it.

:)

trust me, i'm an american, not of japanese decent, and i am WELL AWARE that it is a racial slur....i'm educated enough to know about manzanar and the entire phenomenon of the japanese-american relocation/internment camps...

On second thought, I didn't stop to think about the previous connotations of the word. At my school (in England) we didn't learn much about the part of the war concerning America and Japan. The only time I've ever seen the word 'jap' is on the internet and I thought it was just the shortening of the word Japanese. Just like how the British are sometimes called 'Brits'.

I think that in France the word Jap is just the shortening of Japanese, however people who use the term Nippon don't mean to be nice toward Japanese, because THIS is kind of a racist expression.

Suzuhiko wrote:
On topic though, although I don't use the word 'jap' myself, I don't really see it as being offensive. Like I said above calling someone a jap is just calling them japanese and theres nothing offensive about that. If people are offended by it that's up to them and would call them whatever they wished to be called. However, I think that if your proud of your own culture then you can't be insulted by it.

1. It's not offensive to you, but then you are not Japanese or of Japanese descent. Isn't it a little presumptuous to determine what is offensive or what is not offensive to an ethnic group when you are not part of that group?
2. You may think "Jap" is just short for "Japanese," but there is a long history of bigotry involving this three-letter word. For you and anyone else who thinks it's merely an innocuous abbreviation of the word Japanese, go out and educate yourselves on this topic and see if you feel the same way after.
3. Your last line implies that Japanese who are proud of their culture should not feel insulted by the word "Jap." Again, do you presume to know what an ethnic group believes even though you are not of that group? Also, are you then implying that Japanese or people of Japanese descent who find it insulting are not proud of their culture?

I was wondering too, but we Dutch people are often called, kasekopfen, in english something like; cheeseheads... we don't care if they call us like that, cause it's bullshit :nut: ,

but I understand that 'Jap' isn't nice to Japanese people.. if some says it, it's not always meant in a friendly way..

i find the word Jap offensive... :grumble:
even tho im not Japanese lol
i just think its like calling italians tallies and so on...
i suggest everyone sticks to Japanese please...

shin2 wrote:
1. It's not offensive to you, but then you are not Japanese or of Japanese descent. Isn't it a little presumptuous to determine what is offensive or what is not offensive to an ethnic group when you are not part of that group?
2. You may think "Jap" is just short for "Japanese," but there is a long history of bigotry involving this three-letter word. For you and anyone else who thinks it's merely an innocuous abbreviation of the word Japanese, go out and educate yourselves on this topic and see if you feel the same way after.
3. Your last line implies that Japanese who are proud of their culture should not feel insulted by the word "Jap." Again, do you presume to know what an ethnic group believes even though you are not of that group? Also, are you then implying that Japanese or people of Japanese descent who find it insulting are not proud of their culture?

i totally agree.
Im not even Japanese.
Well my soul is but...that doesnt count lol.
I TAKE IT OFFENSIVE ALL THE WAY!

kokuou wrote:What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter whether you yourself are offended by the word or not.
The fact remains that OTHER people definitely find it offensive, and that's why you shouldn't use it.

‘‰¤š

Exactly.

This has been said time and time again in this thread, but it appears people are not reading this thread thoroughly and completely to understand the insulting nature of the term...

I think "Jap" Is a offended word that other people use to call a Japanese person. Like how some people use that harsh word "Nigga."

1. It's not offensive to you, but then you are not Japanese or of Japanese descent. Isn't it a little presumptuous to determine what is offensive or what is not offensive to an ethnic group when you are not part of that group?
2. You may think "Jap" is just short for "Japanese," but there is a long history of bigotry involving this three-letter word. For you and anyone else who thinks it's merely an innocuous abbreviation of the word Japanese, go out and educate yourselves on this topic and see if you feel the same way after.
3. Your last line implies that Japanese who are proud of their culture should not feel insulted by the word "Jap." Again, do you presume to know what an ethnic group believes even though you are not of that group? Also, are you then implying that Japanese or people of Japanese descent who find it insulting are not proud of their culture?

I personally find the word extremely offensive and I'm Japanese American. I am proud to be Japanese. Unless you've grown up Japanese, you wouldn't understand how or why this word is offensive towards us. If you haven't seen it used against your family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, in a negative way how would you understand? I have seen it and I have had it used against me because of what I am. Yes, some people only use it as a shortened form of Japanese, probably because they don't know any better, or are just plain lazy (or ignorant) but I still find it very insulting.