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why is it frowned upon to describe a person according to appearance and ethnic background? (linux.community)

submitted 3 days ago by vestmoria@linux.community to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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.

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[–] kindnesskills@literature.cafe 4 points 3 days ago

I don't know, but if you put some more effort into remembering people's names you don't have to get into these situations in the first place. I say this as someone who's terrible at remembering names, but I have gotten better at it, and so can you.

Also, most times it's fine to just say "a coworker" without specifying who it is unless people ask.