Is there anything you've experienced being controversial despite not needing to be? For example, breastfeeding in public, not circumcising your child, and even food preferences such as being gluten-free immediately come to my mind.
Someone recently asked, “What things are controversial but shouldn't be?” Here are the top-voted responses.
1. Saying No
“Just saying no to someone instead of coming up with an excuse,” one user shared. Another stated, “And if you give an excuse, it allows them to argue why you should do the thing they are asking.”
“That's critical. They take an explanation not as a polite courtesy but as the opening of negotiation,” a third added.
2. Discussing Wage and Salary
“In the US, discussing your salary or wage. People who make fun of you for your income aren't worth your time, and sharing income can help everyone involved to make more,” one shared.
“Not just the US. European here, and I have it in my contract that I'm not allowed to talk about it.” Fortunately, Americans are protected by law and are allowed to, despite some employers saying otherwise.
3. Dunning-Kruger Effect
“Dunning-Kruger effect,” someone said, “Expert opinion combined with social media, has led to the concept that an untrained person's opinion is equal to an expert's knowledge because they are equally as loud now.”
Another replied, “Adding on to this, we are also seeing people who are experts in one thing trying to act like experts in things outside their field. But, unfortunately, people believe them without vetting them as much as they would a layman, which is problematic.”
4. Menstruation
“Menstruation. It's still taboo to even talk about in most countries,” one user replied.
“Totally! It's something that happens to half of the human population every month! (And half of all mammals) like sorry my discomfort is making you uncomfortable,” added another.
5. Changing Your Opinion
“Changing your opinion when presented with new information. It doesn't help that people known to have had a different view in the past are called hypocrites by their detractors.”
“That's not what hypocrisy is; you must concomitantly favor something in some instances and against it in others, depending on how it benefits you, to be a hypocrite. But does that stop them? No,” one user explained.
Changing your opinion with new information is called growth vs. arrogance and ignorance.
6. Saying You Don't Like Something
Another person shared, “Saying you don't like something, and everyone just about bites your head off.”
“It happens a lot on food questions here. It's annoying. Someone will say they don't like mushrooms, and the next ten replies will be, ‘But have you tried?' ‘Bro, you need to cook them like…' ‘Mushrooms are good, dude. Here's my grandma's recipe.' Like no. Please stop.”
7. Sexual Education
“Sexual education for young adults and teens. Maybe even younger. When you say sex ed, people assume I'm saying teach kids how to do it. No. I'm saying teach children what consent is, so they know to say no to the creepy uncle or babysitter that tries something.”
“Teach them the names of their body parts so if God forbid something were to happen to them, they can name what happened and get that sicko behind bars,” replied another user.
8. Euthanasia
Someone voted, “Euthanasia. I don't understand why we should keep extremely old or sick people until the end. It's much more heartbreaking to keep them alive just for the sake of it.”
“Especially people with heavy Alzheimer's, it's extremely devastating,” another replied.
“When we see a dog suffering, we think it's cruel to keep them alive to suffer, so we put them down, and they gently fall asleep. When a person suffers, we keep them alive for as long as possible, even providing treatments to keep them alive as they suffer. We treat dogs better than people,” a third commented.
9. Men Voicing Emotions
“We're either too closed off or too emotional,” one man commented. Another added, “Her: ‘It's OK for you to open up and discuss your emotions with me.' Me: ‘OK, I'm going to open up. Here's what I'm struggling with.' Her: ‘STOP TRAUMA DUMPING. WOMEN AREN'T YOUR THERAPISTS.'”
“It freaking hard to try and teach emotional health at home!! I've got three boys (14, 7, and 6), and trying to teach them how to handle big feelings in a good way is hard when everything around them is saying the opposite. But big emotions aren't bad if they're handled appropriately.”
10. Respecting People's Jobs
“Respecting people in ‘dirty' or ‘lower' jobs,” one shared. “I'm a custodian, and for years I worked in schools. The teachers who were nice/respectful to us often got comments from their coworkers asking why they did that, especially when they did simple things to help us out, like pulling the trash for us when we were highly short-handed or picking up all the big trash off the floor daily.”
We hope you enjoyed this Reddit picks list of controversial things that shouldn't be controversial. Also, check out these things Americans aren't ready to hear, according to Non-Americans.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.