tweet by Alex Dacy | Wheelchair Rapunzel @dacy_alex:
“We need to start treating ableist slurs as seriously as we treat other forms of hate speech. Disabled people don’t deserve to be mentally abused on behalf of something you don’t deem “that serious.” Ableist slurs are very serious.”
I have less of a problem with slurs than I do people assuming I’m not disabled.
I’ve had people yell at me in grocery stores for the temerity of using an electric scooter to get around.
I get it, I’m not old, I’m 6’2", and a pretty big guy. I look healthy. I also have a 10" chest scar from where they cracked me open like a lobster and I can’t really walk more than about 5 minutes.
I have less of a problem with slurs than I do people assuming I’m not disabled.
Why not both?
But to your point - being a young(er) person with a (at times) invisible disability that still means I use a wheelchair, I get the same shit, and it’s frustrating as hell. As if it’s any of their fucking business even if we were “faking”…
Solidarity friend. ✊
As someone who is not disabled (also cishet, white, and male; but those privileges are for another post), there’s often language coded into social norms that I don’t realise are normalised slurs. The R-word was a big one when I was a kid that I’ve made a conscious effort since high school to stop using, for example.
Are there any resources you could share that might help educate me further on other common terms or expressions that people like me might not realise are ableist in origin?
Great learning opportunity for you here - if you’re going to acknowledge all of your privileges, why not take the extra step and actually use them to invest a few minutes of your own time in asking a search engine before asking a person who would need to invest energy and emotional labour in answering your question?
I happen to like providing information to people, so while I’m genuinely annoyed at myself for doing it, because you should, I took those few minutes and found this and more:
https://hbr.org/2020/12/why-you-need-to-stop-using-these-words-and-phrases
https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/stupid-is-an-ableist-slur-breaking-down-defenses-around-ableist-language-liberating-our-words/
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/no-joking-matter-words-and-disability
https://cultrface.co.uk/alternatives-to-ableist-terms/
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210330-the-harmful-ableist-language-you-unknowingly-use
https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/08/alternatives-to-oppressive-language/I hate to burst your bubble, but “stupid” isn’t ablelist.
The origins of stupid go back to Latin roots, meaning astounding. It has nothing to do with current feelings of mental infirmity the way most perjoratives do, falling down from the mental classifications of primitive early 20th century psychology which “blessed” us with “retarded”, “idiot”, “imbecile” and “moron”.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/moron-idiot-imbecile-offensive-history
I’d add to this… two other common words come from misunderstanding their use in Looney Tunes cartoons, namely “Nimrod” and “Maroon”.
Nimrod, from the Bible, was a master hunter. So when Bugs Bunny calls Elmer Fudd “Nimrod”, it’s taken on the meaning of “idiot”, but in reality he’s mocking Fudd’s hunting ability.
Similarly, Bugs (and others) throw around the term “Maroon” which is largely taken as a variant on “Moron”, when in reality it refers to Carribbean shipwreck survivors with a severely racist component. :(
So, yeah, lots of good reasons to avoid vocabulary like this, “stupid” isn’t one of them.
Fuck this “pick me” noise, go look up lateral and internalised ableism. You have no excuse
I’m a linguistics scholar, I have no interest in using language to push an agenda.
Certain words have a long history of perjorative use, “stupid” is not one of them, and when someone is legitimately being stupid, we need to be able to call that out.
I don’t give a shit what you are (wanting to be better doesn’t look like an option), that word is ableist and no amount of linguistic or mental gymnastics is going to change that (never mind that you’re basically implying that all of the people who have written about the topic must be less qualified than you, talk about overinflated confidence)
Never mind that the concept behind it which is what you’re actually trying to hold on to is ableist.
I’ve made the effort to provide you more resources, but the rest of your education (or refusal of) will have to happen elsewhere, I will not tolerate anyone perpetuating and making excuses for ableism in this space.
https://affinitymagazine.us/2018/01/08/stop-using-intelligence-based-insults-if-you-care-about-disabled-people/
http://disabledfeminists.com/2009/10/23/ableist-word-profile-intelligence/
https://liminalnest.wordpress.com/2018/06/23/intelligence-is-a-myth-on-deconstructing-the-roots-of-cognitive-ableism/For someone so intent on protecting people from harmful language, you sure do heap abuse on people when you want to, apparently you simply can’t handle it when other people, quite politely I might add, call you out on your bullshit.
Rather than use an outdated psychological term impugning your IQ level, I’ll simply point you to the Dunning Kruger effect.
You have no idea what you’re talking about, and you’re entirely too confident in how wrong you are.
And the mask is off - you don’t give a shit about reducing harm (thanks for proving me right), you just want a way to punch down at people you like feeling superior to (you’re not).
Now to your whining: slurs are not the same as swears (one is a tool of systemic oppression, just like the tone policing you’re attempting ,the other, which I didn’teven use beyond saying I don’t give a shit about your job lol, is used for emphasis mostly and causes no one any harm, apart from your fragile ego), for an expert linguist you sure don’t know much about language or the impact it has, talk about dunning kruger and not being willing to admit others might actually know more than you. I bet you didn’t read a single word in any of the links shared on this post (but they still all prove you wrong lol).
Also thanks for demonstrating that being marginalised one way doesn’t mean you don’t perpetuate and contribute to the oppression of others, in your case knowingly and deliberately.
In conclusion- go fuck yourself, bigot.
This morning I was called inferior for being disabled and suggesting maybe people don’t use ableist slurs and ideas (like literally advocating eugenics), and I consider that a “good” outcome, since more often than not people will descend in to literal death threats/wishes or telling me to kill myself (E: alternatively, they will completely dismiss me for apparently being a “white knight” because in their ableist mind disabled people A. don’t exist on the internet or B. couldn’t possibly be able to advocate for ourselves).
People simply don’t give a shit about the harm they cause disabled people, and trying to “take away” some of their favourite slurs (so not even addressing all of their ableism, just the tip of the iceberg part) gets met with increasing defensiveness which will 9 times out of 10 turn to full blown aggression, and 10 times out of 10 with them trying to see how many ableist slurs they can hurl at you at once (all while thinking they’re the funniest people in existence).
Having a space that openly stands against this shit isn’t just a rarity, it is a much needed safe haven. 💙
Solidarity 💜
