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Monday, February 5, 2024

#MicroblogMondays: Define "regular"...!

There was a long article in the Toronto Star this weekend that raised my childless hackles.  The article itself was rather interesting -- about Toronto's housing crisis, and possible solutions. I'm not sure whether it's behind a paywall (doesn't seem to be a gift link available) -- but it was the headline that had me rolling my eyes, hard, and that I wanted to focus on here:  "Regular families will never again be able to buy a house in Toronto – but we can still fix the housing crisis. Here’s how."

Define "regular families,"  right??! (That's a new one on me...!) I think "typical families" or "average families" is the more usual description, and possibly a better/preferable choice of words -- although I'd still roll my eyes over the focus on "families" -- knowing that, as a childless couple -- a "family of two" -- we wouldn't qualify in the eyes of so many people and institutions...! 

How about "residents" or "citizens" or just plain "people"??  Right??

I ranted about this to dh. He said, "I guess that makes us IRregular??"  

(Which made me think some more:  "regular" also smacks of "normal" -- the opposite of which, of course, would be "abnormal." Right?  :p )  

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here. 

7 comments:

  1. The ridiculous thing is how easy it would be to have someone go through and change things like that. Same point but without the stereotypes.

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  2. I think they mean regular in the socio-economic sense.

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  3. Grrr. Yes, "average people: would have been a better description. Though perhaps they meant that rich families might be irregular too. I can also imagine a whole comedic riff on the word "regular" about these families, but for your sake I will restrain myself! lol

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  4. What a dumb, exclusive article title. However, the word "irregular" makes me think of constipation if that gives you a good laugh!

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  5. Ewww! There are so many ways "regular" is problematic. What is the threshold for income to be "regular?" How many kids is "regular?" Single parent household? Is that outside regular? What the hell is a "regular" family? I get mad too when real estate is focused on families, like single people and codes people are undeserving of home ownership. Arghhh this brought up a memory that's got me thinking... Great post!

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  6. What an imprecise word. Not the writer nor an editor caught it for clarity and inclusiveness.

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