Anonymous #1 22h

Words like “idiot” were medical terms about a hundred years ago, right? The R word hasn’t been out of use that long at all. I wouldn’t say they’ll be in the same category any time soon; I’ve personally seen way too many people cite the so called “euphemism treadmill” as an excuse to say slurs.

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Anonymous #3 20h

True, words like idiot and moron were medical terms up until at least the 1950s, and the r word was introduced as a replacement to the old terms around the 1960s. It then was used as a slur starting in the 1980s and phased out in the 2000s-ish. I argue that we’re nearing the end of the cycle for the r word as phrases like “that’s so autistic” (often to people not with autism) and “are you sped?” (Special-ed) become more common (at least in my personal experience). Others have noted this also.

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Anonymous #3 20h

Still, it is always wrong in my view to use medical conditions, especially those affecting the most vulnerable in our society, as insults. This has not only happened with the r word but also with cancer (“you’re giving me so much cancer” as in “you’re being annoying” is a phrase I’ve heard). The presence of a cycle doesn’t make it right on an individual basis

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Anonymous #4 14h

I ended up reaching a boiling point of discomfort and expressed more or less the same thought process as yours to a friend whose judgment I have faith in, and thankfully she was totally receptive / took my opinion seriously. so I’m glad I talked to her about it, but I really struggle with how best to articulate where I’m coming from when it’s via a public medium or in convo with people I’m less close to

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Anonymous #1 14h

“phased out in the 2000s”? you mean like when The Black Eyed Peas had a hit song in 2004 where the chorus and title were both “Let’s Get [R-Slur]ed”? 😐 even in the 2010s when it was at least more commonly understood as a word that was bad to throw around casually, it never got fully “phased out”. not even in spaces that skew progressive. that’s why it’s been able to make somewhat of a comeback in the 2020s

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Anonymous #1 14h

worth noting that many of us who actively participate in spaces / communities centering disability justice & anti-ableism politics are in fact vocally critical of the usage of words like “idiot” or “moron”, or at least make a point of personally not applying that language to others if you were unaware of this, that’s most likely due to the fact that even my peers with the highest standards in these spaces recognize that colloquial usage of those terms just doesn’t qualify as a top priority

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Anonymous #4 14h

Yeah I didn’t want to say anything bc I do agree with their other comment and as they said it’s just their experience, but I never have seen the R word “die out” like so many people claim did in the 2010s. I wonder if maybe those people just left the age group or environment that they previously saw it in. I have heard and been called the R word by kids and adults all through the 2010s and early 2020s. Lots of things people think have died out haven’t. People at my school were still saying…

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Anonymous #3 14h

…”no homo” in the late 2010s/early 2020s.

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Anonymous #4 10h

Sorry, did not mean to confuse. Was phased out as a medical term in the 2000s*.

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Anonymous #4 10h

As a matter of fact, I was unaware of this! I’ll keep that in mind with my speech moving forward. I have two follow up questions. One, is it just words that used to refer to medical conditions that you make a point to avoid, or are there others (if so, what are they?)? Two, where can i learn more about this topic ?

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Anonymous #1 9h

as far as I’m aware, there are two main ways of thinking about it—the first being, like you said, that the words we should rethink our usage of are those which we can trace back to the medical institution / which were used to label distinct “pathologies”, but which are currently used in a derogatory sense. the second approach is focused more on challenging the notion that “intelligence” is like, an objective trait that’s measurable on a single axis

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Anonymous #1 9h

for the latter, basically: I think we can all agree that everyone is knowledgeable about or skilled at some things, and less so about / at other things, right? where there’s some concepts a person will have an easy time with and some concepts that are difficult to grasp so when we call someone “smart” or “stupid” as if that were a single objective measurable trait, what we’re doing is picking and choosing which forms of intelligence are “real” vs which ones “don’t matter”

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Anonymous #1 9h

and an important thing to consider re: intelligence is that the mainstream idea of what qualifies someone as “a stupid person” isn’t really extricable, past or present, from disability—cognitive & developmental disabilities especially, but also other forms of neurodivergence. so some would argue that to label someone as “stupid” is to insult them by comparing them to a disabled person and/or drawing attention to their existing disability

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Anonymous #1 9h

and there’s of course some overlap between these two approaches, it’s not necessarily a “one or the other” thing, I think everyone who’s invested in this stuff comes to their own conclusions about where they draw the line and why / whether there are circumstances in which it matters less (for instance, describing a situation as “stupid” rather than a person) please excuse my long-windedness, I just really like discussing this subject. so I was happy you asked, thank you 🫡

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Anonymous #4 9h

This is all interesting and something I haven’t considered before. Is there any further reading that you’d suggest? It’s fine if not, I’ll be looking things up either way

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Anonymous #4 9h

I’m happy to ask!! Don’t apologize for being long-winded, you gave me tons of great information! All forms of oppression are tied to each other, so one can’t afford to neglect an area even if they focus on all the others. Thanks for taking the time to type all this out 🤗

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Anonymous #1 9h

oh, one last thing—unfortunately I’m drawing a major blank as far as like, how to go about seeking more info that’s in line with this ethos 😭 most of the information & critical perspective I’ve absorbed over the years has come from extended public convos with other disabled people rather than any particular theoretical texts. any social media site you’re on, it’s useful to keep an eye out for people who engage in discussions about disability justice so you can find community!

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Anonymous #1 9h

yesss totally!! and for me personally, getting really serious about disability justice and focusing on prioritizing solidarity with other disabled people has been really important for developing my grasp on intersectionality. like, we all have brains and bodies, and none of em function perfectly forever, so a lot of the time I can even connect with comparatively healthy or “neurotypical” people via these subjects too

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Anonymous #1 8h

and investment in disability justice leads to wanting to be better-informed about things like the tangible health consequences of racism in the medical field, how incarcerated people’s basic mental health needs are neglected in the prison system, how ecological destruction increases rates of certain illnesses etc

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Anonymous #4 8h

Right! Theory is moot without praxis anyways. Thanks for talkin w me :)

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Anonymous #1 8h

hell yeah, you get it :3

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Anonymous #1 8h

ohhhh I got you, that’s real. my mistake (only saw this just now, oops)

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