LadiesBladewing -> RE: Vanilla vs Kinky (10/9/2005 8:59:36 PM)
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ORIGINAL: sfgrrl If it describes portions of everyone's lives, why would you advocate using it to label a subset of the population? It conveys the same shades of elitism you talk of regarding some people's use of the word vanilla. ~stef I think that most people who use the term are just looking for a simple way to explain where their life diverges from a "basic". We use the term "vanilla" for the portions of our life that are comfortable, regular and dependable, and for the parts of our life that are common to many other households. Vanilla is the most popular flavor for ice-cream, and has been for a very long time, even though there are many other flavor options and more coming every day. Vanilla is the staple that you go for when you are going to be serving a group of people, and you don't really know who likes what, or whether some particular choice might set off someone's allergies, or whatever. In the same way, in living our lives, there are parts that are going to be comfortable no matter who is around. Then there are variations on a theme that some people will like, and others won't, and some won't even want to try (and some are allergic to even being around). So when dealing with people, it is important to know when to "serve vanilla", and when variations on the theme will be appreciated. When I hear the term "vanilla", though I have heard it used derogatorily, I tend to envision it as being the cohesive part that we all share, upon which variations are built by adding (not subtracting). We may add caramel swirls, chocolate chips, nuts, strawberries...but even when making ice cream of any flavor, the base is still the same -- milk, eggs, cream, vanilla bean...and so, in life, there is our "vanilla"--the things that we share with others in the world, that provides a base, and some connection. Lady Zephyr
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