The other day, at an event held at the National Poetry Library [1], I asked a perfectly reasonable question of the speakers (at their invitation).
The question was pretty much brushed aside, but I was thanked for providing a feisty contribution to the evening.
That word - feisty - irritated me at the time and has been troubling me ever since: for I am not a small farting dog looking to cause a stink and don't wish to be patronised as such [2].
I'm assured it was meant lightheartedly and in the modern sense.
However, when middle-class people label working-class people feisty, then - even if unaware of the carminative origins of the word - it's insulting in much the same way as the word uppity is a highly offensive way of describing black people [3].
For the implication is given that those who dare to challenge the prevailing narrative are behaving in a manner that is just a little too rude and aggressive for polite society and next time might think twice before speaking (or even remain silent altogether in the presence of those who are clearly their superiors) [4].
Notes
[1] For details, click here.
[2] Etymologically, feisty means something quite different from its modern sense; relating as it does to the breaking of wind and to canine flatulence in particular. See the entry on the term in the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary: click here.
[3] See the article by Elspeth Reeve, 'Yep, "Uppity" Is Racist', in The Atlantic (22 November 2011): click here.
[4] There's arguably also a subtle sexism operating behind this word feisty when used by a man to describe a woman. See Melissa Mohr's article of 10 September 2020, on the Christian Science Monitor website: click here.
One can't really (and really can't) judge this without knowing the context, which for some reason the writer omits to provide, i.e. what was the topic and, rather importantly, what was the question (and how was it presented). Re the alleged classist context, there's also, therefore, no way of gauging - as with accusations of racism - how much is real and how much in the complainant's mind. Where does middle class superciliousness stop and a reactive working class inferiority complex/chippiness begin? Almost everyone projects something, after all. (The carefully positioned rhetorical phrase 'perfectly reasonable' might also invite some scrutiny here - is anything 'perfectly' reasonable or rational, and why should it be respected as such in any event?)
ReplyDeleteThe word itself does indeed have a fascinating etymology, which is what interests me most as a poet, however (and may interest other readers):
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/the-surprisingly-physical-word-history-of-feisty
Context is provided by the earlier post linked to in note 1.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I myself provided the link to the article in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (see note 2).
The link opens up another post about the event, but my point was about the lack of context surrounding the dialogue in which the word was used. Wihtout knowing that or hearing the tone etc., it's difficult to draw any conclusions.
ReplyDeleteI missed the MW link in one of the (tiny) footnotes, sorry.