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"Retard"....insult?
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Post by
ndetroit
Patty,
I'm not a sociologist, but I have worked in human services for 20 years and I have some perspective on this. First off, one needs to understand that terms like "retard" tend to be more offensive because they reference a group that has been harshly discriminated against. A history of discrimination towards a group of people really aggravates the impact when labels are applied - even labels that may not seem like insults. Think about all the terms that have been used to describe the disabled: idiot, dumb, slow - which were all once commonly used labels even by academicians and doctors - now "disabled" is becoming a non-preferred term in our community. You've heard the term "challenged" applied to labels to try to soften them - which doesn't help much.
By analogy, think of all the terms that have been used to describe black people or native americans, eventually the latest labels become insulting, in no small part because these groups are still discriminated against. I know black people who hate the term "African American," which makes sense because many of them do not associate themselves with Africa any more than I associate myself with Europe. By contrast, as a white male who has experienced very limited personal discrimination, and no group discrimination, you could call me "whitey," "honkey," "snowflake," etc. (which I heard growing up in Detroit) and it would generate very little reaction as opposed to calling me a non-racial insult like a jerk or an #$%^&*!. If I used the N-word with a black person, the reaction would probably be far more offensive than calling that person a jerk. It's about discrimination - where you and your affiliated culture is in our society.
Think about this: The Irish and Catholics were once discriminated groups in this country. From my perspective, they aren't anymore. We have a football team at Notre Dame called the "fighting irish" and no one seems to have a problem with that image. Meanwhile, there has been a movement across the country to remove native american mascots from schools/teams, especially if there is a reference to anything violent. The difference is extinct versus on-going discrimination. If it's still a painful experience, then there will be increased sensitivity.
You may have thought your question about the label "retard" was a simple one, but it is actually far more complex than most people realize. On a positive note, you will know when we are becoming a more equal society when people of historically discriminated backgrounds have lessened reactions to labels - like I feel about "whitey." Better yet, we'll just stop using these terms altogether because we'll see people as individuals.(##RESPBREAK##)8##DELIM##ElhonnaDS##DELIM##I'm going to leave this thread open if people want to respond, since it's not really a topic that goes out of date. However, I would like to point out to Ndetroit that the last person who posted in this thread did so nearly 3 years ago, and the specific user he is answering hasn't been on wowhead in almost a year. Please feel free to pick up the discussion where they left off, but know that many of the participants on these previous pages have moved on and likely won't be responding to posts directed at them specifically.
Post by
Jkpman
There is a lack of respect at the core of someone who would knowingly use the word 'retarded' when they full well understand they are verbally degrading a helpless section of humanity, but use it anyway. There is some potent part of that person that is so callous, and self centered, that they will twist their own conscience to somehow find such an insult acceptable. I will not abide it.
I'd argue a lack of maturity as opposed to the person being extremely callous and self centered.
I think you need to look at the age of the person using it, combined with the fact that rightly or wrongly it has become an interchangeable term for idiot in common language.
A person can fully understand the dictionary defined meaning and still think of it as having an alternative use.
If I used the N-word with a black person, the reaction would probably be far more offensive than calling that person a jerk. It's about discrimination - where you and your affiliated culture is in our society.
Taking this comment to try illustrate my point, The N word has been somewhat reclaimed, and it seems to be perfectly acceptable to use in certain music genres, albeit with a different spelling.
It's a complicated issue, but when I hear or see people calling others retard I tend to think of it more like "nig*a" as opposed to "nig*er"
And in fact in some cases it is used correctly, The person on the receiving end of the comment may indeed be retarding the progress of the group or individual.
Post by
itascagasman
This thread really hits close to home. I'm a father of a 7 year old boy that was shaken nearly to death by his babysitter at 4.5 months old. I'm completely against "retard" in any form. To ME personally, it makes me feel as someone is using it as a spiced up way to say "stupid", or "slow",negative in general. I was reading through some old posts and the individual that posted a few years ago about handicapped people being inferior...that is simply a piece of human garbage. Now I know we all(including me) have at some point seen someone do something silly or without using a little common sense and blurted out "you freakin retard, watch out", and so on..but those few that actually look down on those that really DO have a handicap, no matter if they're born with it, it was caused by an accident, or the hands of another...screw you...they're still people, they have feelings, personalities, wants, likes, dislikes, and everything else that people without a handicap have. I think it's just terrible for someone to look down on others like that, it's just....wrong.
Post by
Jkpman
To ME personally, it makes me feel as someone is using it as a spiced up way to say "stupid", or "slow",negative in general.
Of course it is, Retard is just this generation's buzz word, When I was a kid the term spastic was used to describe cerebral palsy. We had charities such as The Spastics Society and of course the word spastic was used by kids as a way of saying "you idiot"
I think the term became so much a part of the language that the charity changed its name. Things like this happen in linguistics and I'm sure they've happened throughout history.
I understand it's much more distasteful to hear if you are the parent of a disabled child, but I think people as a whole just need to grow a thicker skin. It's part of the language for now as a throwaway insult.
I was reading through some old posts and the individual that posted a few years ago about handicapped people being inferior...that is simply a piece of human garbage.
Or simply ignorant. It's not that long ago that eugenics was a widely practiced philosophy. The irony is that you could argue that viewpoint to be intellectually retarded.
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