Quote from: bitcheslovemyswitches on April 18, 2014, 10:39:17 AMHey lawrence! Great to see you here finally!
I am way late to this thread party. I just discovered it last night (Google Alerts doesn't actually seem to alert BTW). If I may, can I just add my 2 cents on this name thing?
The name: It just came to me, there was no thinking or trying to put words together. There was no list of keywords and phrases made. The second I thought, "I should sell 3PDT switches cheaper and faster and nicer than the other guys", the name popped into my head. It was so stupid and boyishly inappropriate and absurdly not connected to anything DIY or Hackerish or Music related that it kept me laughing. It was memorable, it had a small lyrical flow to it and it was funny in a silly, edgy way. Plus the domain was available. Easy. Done.
Would it offend anyone? I figured a couple of warriors for the downtrodden would be vocal about it but most people won't care. They might even find it funny. Creatively, I liked to the challenge of working around the name and coming up with ideas for it.
Is it offensive? I think a word needs context to be offensive. A dictionary is not misogynist because it has the word Bitch in it. Is a judge at a dog show wrong for using it? The reasonable would all say no, right?
So what if it has no context? If it just stands alone not connected to anything with a gender. In my eyes this is where it sits in the way I use it. Not really connected to anything other than parts to make cool stuff out of. It's now absurd. There has never been and will never be any women used in the marketing or design of BLMS.
Not because I want to stay sexist free, it's because I have more respect for the people that give me their money.
Let's talk about what offends me. I am offended when I see hot chicks used to sell stuff to me. Not because it's sexist, but because I don't want to give any one my money that thinks I am that dumb. The AXE body spray ads alone make me want to start a smelly riot.
The most important question is: were any actual woman hurt during the making of this little business of mine? I asked my wife, sisters, mom and my female friends before I went forward. All of them asked me why I was being a little bitch and worrying about what other people think. OK that didn't happen. I didn't even mention it to them, because none of them build guitar pedals and thus the name of my site has no effect on their life. And even if they did build, it has no effect on their life.
It may have turned out to be smart business move in the long run. It's a filter to let in the easy going, friendly, smart and relaxed folk. People with a sense of humor are my kind of people. The world is an easier place for them because it fills them with mirth and joy. A customer that won't buy from me because the name hurts their feelings is more likely to be a time and energy sucking grumbler who is victimized by the world at every moment. No thanks. SensitiveSteve'sPartsForAllInclusiveTone.com can have them.
-Lawrence "HBIC" Scaduto