In which I rant.
What is it with people and insults?
I mean, there are plenty of insults out there that don't have gross implications or links to the historical (or current) oppression of one group or another. It's not like you have to give up using insults for all time. You might just have to crack open a dictionary and, IDK, give two or three seconds of thought to what you say before you actually say it.
But I'm seriously so fucking sick of the argument that being justifiably pissed off gives you the right to say whatever the hell crosses your mind without regard to who might be hurt by it. Being a woman doesn't give me the right to use racial or homophobic slurs, even if I'm justifiably angry about misogynistic behavior. Being a queer woman doesn't give me the right to say that morons should be forcibly sterilized, even if I'm justifiably pissed off about homophobic behavior.
Why? Here's why. Forcible sterilization is an actual thing that has actually happened in this country in living memory. 'Morons' were among the targets of these eugenics programs.
Say 'I wish bigots wouldn't have kids', and I'm right there with you, but that's not the same thing. And maybe it was just poor word choice; so what? It's poor word choice when somebody says, 'Our team got raped in the playoffs.' It's poor word choice when someone says, 'That shirt is so gay.' That doesn't make either of these things okay to say. Words fucking mean things.
I mean, there are plenty of insults out there that don't have gross implications or links to the historical (or current) oppression of one group or another. It's not like you have to give up using insults for all time. You might just have to crack open a dictionary and, IDK, give two or three seconds of thought to what you say before you actually say it.
But I'm seriously so fucking sick of the argument that being justifiably pissed off gives you the right to say whatever the hell crosses your mind without regard to who might be hurt by it. Being a woman doesn't give me the right to use racial or homophobic slurs, even if I'm justifiably angry about misogynistic behavior. Being a queer woman doesn't give me the right to say that morons should be forcibly sterilized, even if I'm justifiably pissed off about homophobic behavior.
Why? Here's why. Forcible sterilization is an actual thing that has actually happened in this country in living memory. 'Morons' were among the targets of these eugenics programs.
Say 'I wish bigots wouldn't have kids', and I'm right there with you, but that's not the same thing. And maybe it was just poor word choice; so what? It's poor word choice when somebody says, 'Our team got raped in the playoffs.' It's poor word choice when someone says, 'That shirt is so gay.' That doesn't make either of these things okay to say. Words fucking mean things.