On an email with my manager I described a coworker I only worked with once as a small, thin woman that was either born in an East Asian country or has East Asian parents. I don’t know this person’s name. I don’t see a better way to describe her all things considered.
The managers answer: it is disrespectful to describe people according to ethnic background or physical appearance.
My next question for this manager: dear manager, how should I describe this person then?
I don’t know if I’m being genuinely disrespectful or this is a very thin skinned manager. Either way, I had to work with another coworker I didn’t know either. This conversation with manager B ensued:
manager B: ‘today you’re working with mike’
me: ‘who’s mike?’
manager B: ‘that fat guy’
make it make sense.
You can always say “straight black hair, brown eyes”. Hair and eyes and height are common descriptors, and then maybe skin tone if necessary.
Someone who hasn’t met someone has nothing to describe them by besides “physical appearance” but that doesn’t mean trying to pinpoint their presumed origin.
You’re reaching the fringe of this discussion! So, if he had said “dark brown eyes with epicanthic folds”, is that a bridge too far? I think this is where this question gets messy and it’s why people tend to either leave it well alone, or just wade in with no tact whatsoever.
It’s a bit harsh to imply someone is racist because they use features to describe a person.
No I’m not. Quit using the cloud to do your thinking/forum posting for you, it’s transparently pathetic.
What the fuck are you talking about? Why the aggression there, cunto?