About the Blog
Welcome. The term "beyond the pale" most often refers to speech or actions that are "outside the bounds of acceptable behavior," [1], that which is socially unacceptable, outrageous, rude, or offensive. Historically, "the pale" refers most often to an area on the east coast of Ireland that was entirely controlled by English settlers and the English government, which occupied Ireland for about 800 years, from 1169 to 1937. "To travel outside of that boundary, beyond the pale, was to leave behind all the rules and institutions of English society, which the English modestly considered synonymous with civilization itself." [2 ] "The pale" may also refer to the Pale of Calais, a historic region of France that was controlled by England from 1346 to 1558, and to the "Pale of Settlement"in Western Russia where Jewish people were confined to live from 1791 to 1917. This blog explores what it can mean to think, feel, and l