…
“…It’s not ok to call me a chink”
“…It’s not ok to call me a fag…”
“…It’s not ok to call me a retard…”
“…Don’t even use the word to describe yourself…” Paraphrasing here…thankfully I have only seen it once…I was offended by it.
“Every word has a fragrance: there is harmony and disharmony of fragrances and hence of words.” -Neitzsche
Well I smell something bad.
I’m not saying it’s nice to call someone a retard, you should phrase it this way…
…”You are acting retarded.”
If someone is miffed by this then they are acting retarded.
It’s the same thing as saying…
…”You are acting mentally slow.”
Perhaps you received a drunk text and couldn’t read it because it was an incomprehensible mess…
…”You were acting like a
Perhaps you just polished your toes and the paint is still tacky and you put closed toe shoes on…
…”I’m
Perhaps you are a blogger and are thinking to yourself…’That swimSuit blog has had a lot of hits…I wonder how I can get more pics of me in SwimSuits and blog about it.”…
…”Holy crap I am
Perfectly acceptable don’t you think?
You get the gist.
The word retard means…slow
People really are medically retarded…they are slower than an average person…mentally.
Many words like “niggardly” have been morphed by people acting
The word niggardly means "not generous or stingy". It has absolutely nothing to do with the word…
...Nigger…which is a another word that was morphed from the French and Spanish words for the colour black.
Niggardly per the Urban Dictionary…"word that will get you fired even though it means nothing offensive."
I’m not Black. I’m an official African American though. Should I find offense when people aren’t from Africa and call themselves African American?
Wow I digress!
My bad…
…The power of the word is mighty and causes hurt and pain but only if you let it.
I’ve been called…
…a whore (I admit…I really do like sex)
...a bitch (just means a female dog)
...a fag (just a British term for a cigarette)
...a retard (a mentally slow person)
...an Ass (I had a pet donkey growing up)
...a cunt (Yes, I do have one…and I’ll C U Next Tuesday!),
Whatever…not a damn one hurt me…
“Sticks and Stones may break my bones but names will NEVER hurt me!"
If you are offend by ANY of this…You are an idiot, acting like a
One day do you think we will not be allowed to use the word stupid because some stupid person got their panties in a wad?
Note…In a past blog about Autism and Vaccines I covered a little bit about the word “Retard”. I do understand that it offends people…but I worry about societies
http://behindthebookscover.blogspot.com/2011/02/autism-and-vaccines.html
Well said.
ReplyDeleteI’m a reader, but have never posted a comment to your page. I don’t know how open you are to debate or other modes of thought, as often times you defend your opinions by stating that ultimately you “know [I’m] right!!” or accuse people of “getting their panties into wads,” whenever the possibility of offense gets taken. However, I’m going to take some time and write this anyways in hopes that it at the very least, plants a seed.
ReplyDeleteYour use of the word retard is NOT okay. It never was and it still isn’t. The fact that you use it so freely and have it as an entire blog category is abhorrent and derogatory. I wonder if you realize how unbelievably ignorant it makes you sound, particularly when you seem so intent on supposedly researching your blogs and making educated points.
But let’s get more specific, shall we?
In social vernacular the word refers to persons who are cognitively delayed and/or mentally retarded populations. Even more specifically, it refers to people with significantly lowered IQ’s, COMBINED with deficits in their adaptive functioning. It is NOT the same as “being mentally slow” as you not so eloquently phrase it. That’s solely a processing speed issue. There are many average (and above) average intellectuals who have processing speed issues. Do not confuse the two terms, as they are two entirely different constructs. Is this semantics? Not really. But it all speaks to the larger point that every time you use that word, it is at the cost of an already socially marginalized group. And what gives you the right to be able to do that? Nothing. Not a damn thing.
You then proceeded into a non-sequitur regarding race/ethnicity, but that argument doesn’t begin to hold up because race is a social construct. Developmentally disabled persons are not. It’s that simple.
Words may not hurt you, as you argued that that will only occur if you “let it.” Somehow, I doubt this is always the case, but I can tell you definitively that discriminatory language constitutes verbal aggression to those who are constantly referred to as “riding the short bus,” “re-re’s” and mocked for intellectual, language and physical impairments. It hurts THEM. It HURTS their families and friends. And they are not somehow less-than because it hurts them. You are flinging around a word that has deep, painful connotation for people and ultimately – it comes at THEIR expense, not yours. And you are blind to it. It’s time to take off the blinders.
The word is linked to hurt, pain, marginalization and stigma. Did you know that over 70% of intellectually disabled people cannot find employment in this country? They are reliant on shelters, churches or medical facilities for food and shelter? What about the fact that over half of parents don’t want their children educated in the same classroom? There was a case in Texas recently where staff members of a group home encouraged in-resident patients to fight one another while they cheered and ridiculed them. Internationally, this group is more likely to die of starvation, become homeless and be abused and taunted by the rest of society. Many of them know when they are being made fun of – they bear the emotional scars of repeated verbal aggression for a lifetime, accumulating day after day. The underlying innuendo is that they’re just not worth that much or of value to society.
So why would you ever want to perpetuate bigotry and prejudice by using that word?
If your daughter had an IQ of 65, would you call her that? Or use that word to describe the other two, if she were present and watching and qualified as such?
(continued from the last comment)
ReplyDeleteI ask that you read this story. Can you honestly tell me that it would be okay to use this word in front of Amy or her mother?
http://nolafemmes.com/2012/02/23/litupparade/
There is NO difference in calling someone “a retard” or they’re “acting retarded.” I can promise you, Amy wouldn’t ascertain the difference.
Based on your writing, because I was offended, that makes me an idiot and stupid. I assure you, as a result of my professional background I am neither. I sincerely hope you give some thought to the above statements and stop stigmatizing populations that are less fortunate than you or your own family. Direct your energy towards protecting some of the world’s most vulnerable people who are human and deserve to be treated with integrity and respect, rather than denigrated further through casual language on blogs.
Some thought…you make valid points. To call someone that is now considered and clinically diagnosed as having an ‘intellectual disability’, retarded is wrong. It’s not a sickness or a disease, there is no cure. I wish it on no one or any family.
ReplyDeleteMy point that you don’t get is that MANY words can be offensive and hurtful. The word ‘Retard’ means slow. Can I not use the word to describe my …slow oven? It’s the word police when people use a word that means EXACTLY what the definition is and then…get their panties in a wad. I’m not trying to be demeaning, I have a sense of humor…and I will use it…keep reading please, I actually respect you and again your points are valid…but...
Idiot, Imbecile and Moron were once words used as CLINICAL terms. I did not create them…or their meaning. It’s sad, but true. One day they will change the clinical diagnose from ‘intellectual disability’ to something else…bet on it!
..and now on to my family…I have a son, LittleGuy, he’s fat. He is not chubby, or obese. He is a big kid though. He knows it. He get’s called fat and I deal with it. We add humor into our lives and don’t let others words get to us. I explain to him that he is just bigger than other people. God made him that way. He and his brother, LoveBug, eat the same amount. Their metabolism and bone structure are opposite. Does that make me NOT use the word FAT because someone would find it offensive?
…”That was the fattest stack of chips in front of me in Vegas.”
‘They’ have changed the spelling of ‘fat’ to ‘phat’…how far do we go?
I can not break it down to the ridiculous because I don’t have a doctorate in psychology. I just have a BS (thanks Dad;))
A person with Downs-syndrome is not retarded in my eyes. The person that drives in the left lane of a highway going 45 when the speed limit is 75…is.
I’m stopping here…I think I’m peeing in the wind.