Revealed: Google VP told employees to stop using the word FAMILY after staff complained the term was 'offensive, homophobic and excluded unmarried people without children, animals and those with multiple trans-feminine partners'
Employees at California HQ said the term was 'offensive, inappropriate, homophobic, and wrong' when used in a presentation about a children's product. VP Pavni Diwanji (pictured) told staff to be more conscientious about referring to family
Google was forced to backtrack on its use of the word 'family' after staff at its California headquarters kicked off because the term was used in the context of having children, it has been revealed.
The tech giant experienced a backlash from its own employees in March 2017 after a presentation about a product aimed at young people seemed to replace the term with the word 'family', leaving out various groups.
Far-right publication, the Daily Caller News claimed on Wednesday to have viewed internal communications from an insider in Mountain View where one employee stormed out of a meeting and called the company's poor choice of wording 'offensive, inappropriate, homophobic, and wrong'.
According to the website, approximately 100 people in Silicon Valley showed they agreed with the person's views by up-voting a statement they posted to the company's board.
'This is a diminishing and disrespectful way to speak. If you mean 'children', say 'children'; we have a perfectly good word for it. 'Family friendly' used as a synonym for 'kid friendly' means, to me, 'you and yours don't count as a family unless you have children',' the employee is said to have written. 'And while kids may often be less aware of it, there are kids without families too, you know'.
The member of staff explained further that while their intention was not to completely obliterate the word at the Google HQ, it should not be used when specifically referring to parents.
Google's employee added that it conjures up reminders of organizations that use the word 'family' to suggest anyone who isn't heterosexual may not be included.
'The use of 'family' as a synonym for 'with children' has a long-standing association with deeply homophobic organizations,' the person continued. 'This does not mean we should not use the word 'family' to refer to families, but it mean we must doggedly insist that family does not imply children.
'Even the sense, 'suitable for the whole family', which you might think is unobjectionable, is totally wrong too. It only works if we have advance shared conception of what 'the whole family' is, and that is almost always used to mean a household with two adults, of opposite sex, in a romantic/sexual relationship, with two or more of their own children.'
Pre-empting an explanation that the presentation was simply identifying everyone, the writer pointed out that a product for children was unlikely to cater to adults, for example.
They added that such uses should come to a halt.
'If you mean that as a synonym for 'suitable for all people' stop and notice the extraordinary unlikelihood of such a thought! So 'suitable for the whole family' doesn't mean 'all people', it means 'all people in families', which either means that all those other people aren't in families, or something even worse,' the rant continued. 'Use the word 'family' to mean a loving assemblage of people who may or may not live together and may or may not include people of any particular age. STOP using it to mean 'children'.'
TL,DR
- Google had to rethink the word 'family' in March 2017 when staff complained, it has been revealed
- Employees at California HQ said the term was 'offensive, inappropriate, homophobic, and wrong' when used in a presentation about a children's product
- Approximately 100 people seemed to agree with an internal thread from someone who stormed out of the offending meeting two years ago
- The person said the word 'family' is not equal to having children and Google should stop the use of it in that context
- Various employees said they referred to animals, spouses, boyfriends, parents and multiple trans-feminine partners as their family
- It was also said not all children have families so the words aren't interchangeable
- VP Pavni Diwanji told staff to be more conscientious about referring to family
So, the PC police have fallen to an all time low. This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in quite some time. These snowflakes are resentful pieces of shit.
