fleegar

@shoutplenty

i had this exchange a while ago. i never understood why ppl objected to the word "retard" as much as they do. my insight was the objection wasn't actually from the word being oppressive but rather purely circumstantial. the reply is right – (only) the past derogatory use matters

10/5/2022, 2:20:08 PM

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fleegar

@shoutplenty

it's no different to idiot/moron/etc except society grew sensitive to it. the same effect certainly applies to racist, sexist, anti-lgbt slurs as well, like the transition from "coloured" to "of colour". this effect is called the "euphemism treadmill" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#Euphemism_treadmill)

10/5/2022, 2:20:09 PM

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fleegar

@shoutplenty

the difference i see is that ableist slurs are natural language usage whereas the others are not. being black/female/gay is not inherently undesirable – it requires false stereotyping – whereas being stupid or crazy is. and humans are prone to exaggerate to make a point

10/5/2022, 2:20:10 PM

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fleegar

@shoutplenty

it's still personal growth to be more respectful and use less ableist language. it's bad bc it makes light of disability. but it's never gonna go away for the reason above. just the exact words will change arbitrarily. the overused ones are first to go so i think "insane" is next

10/5/2022, 2:20:10 PM

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fleegar

@shoutplenty

but yeah, the lack of false stereotyping is why i never cared about ppl saying "retard". i stopped only cos it became non-pc and there were other words. but i don't say "nigger"/"faggot" bc their meaning doesn't fit at all the intent in using them, so they are *purely* oppressive

10/5/2022, 2:20:11 PM

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fleegar

@shoutplenty

linguistic social justice is a topic w/ v little certainty, but substantial implications, so it's good to think carefully. for example, there are many concepts like reclamation, postmodern definitions, guilt by association, that are widely accepted today but i find very harmful

10/5/2022, 2:20:11 PM

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