It started innocently enough. I made a comment on an article published on-line. The article was about the reason why a woman would engage in prostitution. Promiscuity cause by low self esteem was the premise put forward. The author, a college professor use her survey of a low income and depressed area where honky-tonk bars and karaoke-beer houses proliferated. I will not mention her statistics other than to say I believe the number of people surveyed woefully inadequate to be able to come up with a credible conclusion.
My comment focus on other possibilities of why a woman might turn to prostitution like poverty and the social environment she happen to grow up in. Unfortunately the professor took offense and her reply had the aggressiveness of a pack of attack dogs. Thinking she may have misunderstood my comment, I responded with_
"Nowhere in my comment do I excuse, overlook, or make allowances for prostitution; either the selling of one's body or principles. My statement "I don't think it fair to equate prostitution with promiscuity" and "...poverty and the necessity for survival would be the main reason for turning to prostitution." are reasonable and in no way suggest that I am trying to prove I am better inform than you nor pick a fight..."
This further infuriated the college professor and she replied_
"Don't try to prove to me that you are a better person just because you are from the so-called developed countries (She overlook the fact that I am also from the Philippines). Your racism is as ignorant and rampant like most of your MAL-EDUCATED and highly opinionated street masses. I don't want to attack people but if you want a fight then I am ON."
Perhaps I was bored or had nothing better to do at that time. I had no desire to pick a fight (the prudent thing to do was to stop further comments on my part) but finding the humor in the situation, I decided that I too was "ON".
However, I was careful not to attack her person but only to put up arguments against the fallacy of her reasoning. As the comments flew back and forth I could visualize the college professor's face turning purple with anger, since her responds became more blusterous...like the winds of Patagonia. Then she turn really personal and started attacking my ancestry as well as my educational attainment. She also boasted of her allege (since I have no way of verifying this) achievement in the academe and derided my lowly educational background.
Finally tiring of the cat and mouse game (I was the mouse annoying the cat) I decided to end it and wrote "I had hope for a constructive discussion or exchange of ideas and insight through these comments, sadly I must look elsewhere." I also took note of her fondness for using the word "MAL-EDUCATED" which often preceded her diatribe against me.
Because I didn't finish college and was therefore less educated (according to her standards), I took the precaution of looking up the word in my dog-earred Webster dictionary, in case I have been hibernating in a cave or under a rock when the word was introduce. I came to realize that it must have been her anglicized term for her usage of "mal-edukada", her pidgin Spanish expletive as she berated her students in class. "Mga wala kayong pinagaralan! mga MAL-EDUKADA KAYO!"(You are all uneducated, you are all UNCIVILIZED!) I imagine she would scold them.
As a parting shot and comeback I politely ask her if she could point me to the latest English dictionary which contain the word "MAL-EDUCATED" since my ancient edition only contain the word "uneducated" to denote a lack of knowledge, a person who is unlettered or illiterate. Perhaps realizing her error, ALL my comments were summarily deleted although her responds to them remain in the comment section. Which is kind of funny considering it would appear she was replying to no one. (I was the only one dumb enough to read her rubbish and comment on her article.)
To all stuck-up intellectual/literary snobs, please spell-check your articles first because some MAL-EDUCATED person like me might just take you "ON" :-). I also want to take this opportunity to thank the college professor for providing me with a new expletive, which I have been using with great relish whenever I have an argument with my spouse. I would riposte, "You..you're nothing but a MAL-EDUCATED PERSON!!" We would both burst out laughing ...and that ended our quarrel.
My parents were born in Sicily before WWII and they are not well educated. Both my parents hardly have a 4th grade education, but they are not dumb. They have a great work ethic and are very wise. They would often use the word "maleducato/maleducata" depending on the gender of the person they were speaking about. Mal is a prefix which means bad or ill. Examples, malaria (bad air), malopropism (bad use of a word in place of the correct one) maldevelopment (badly developed) etc, and there are many others. Maleducato/a simply means ill-mannered or bad manners, not uneducated. Perhaps it is acceptable to state that one who is maleducated is one who is poorly, badly or not educated in manners.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I look up the Italian word "maleducato/a in Google translate. In Spanish "grosero" or "maleducado/a.(The Philippines was colonized and ruled by Spain for over 300 years). Both words translates to "rude" or ill-manner" in English. But I believe the professor's use of the word "maleducated" was incorrect since it does not exist in the English vocabulary and we were corresponding in the English language. I also drew the conclusion that her use of "maleducated" had nothing to do with good manners, but in reference to her self-promoting statement that she has a higher educational background than I. Unfortunately diplomas are no assurance of polite behavior. :)
DeleteMaleducated is not a word in english, Maleducation is. You'd think that a college professor would know this. I'm only a BSN (don't have my masters yet, but between extra classes and continuing education, I was able to challenge clinical nurse specialist - and even -=I=- know that maleducated is not an English word, I wish it was, I would use it!
ReplyDelete