On Language
No one is allowed to call me a bitch.
I bring this up because my flist has a bit of mini-drama. Someone used a word they really shouldn't have in the title of a story. Instead of apologizing, like one does, they tried to defend their position. This always leads to bad news. Oh, why am I telling you no one is allowed to call me a bitch?
Because this boils down to co-option of language. There are a number of terms, you've probably heard them, that some people use to put people in their place, to tell them that they are bad or wrong. Quiet often, it seems, women get the "Stupid Bitch" one.
Now, I can be a bitch. My best friend calls be a bitch all the time. But she's allowed, and I'm a allowed, and no one else is. People I don't know abused that word. They can no longer be trusted with using it.
Similarly, you don't get to use the word "retarded" unless you have cause to fucking own it. On that note, most people don't have cause to fucking own it. See:
1) The most obvious problem with trying to use a "correct" definition of an actual medical definition is that, if you are not a doctor, and the character has never been prescribed a diagnosis, you have no basis for your description. You are nothing more than an armchair psychologist, and your argument has no more merit than someone who says that a character is obviously "bi-polar" because he yelled at a puppy.
Furthermore, a five second Google search can tell you why this is a bad fucking basis for your language choice.
The term "mental retardation" is a diagnostic term denoting the group of disconnected categories of mental functioning such as "idiot", "imbecile", and "moron" derived from early IQ tests, which acquired pejorative connotations in popular discourse. The term "mental retardation" acquired pejorative and shameful connotations over the last few decades due to the use of the words "retarded" and "retard" as insults. This may have contributed to its replacement with euphemisms such as "mentally challenged" or "intellectually disabled". While "developmental disability" may be considered to subsume other disorders (see below), "developmental disability" and "developmental delay" (for people under the age of 18), are generally considered more acceptable terms than "mental retardation".
"Retarded", like a number of pejorative terms before it, is on its way out as a clinical diagnosis because it's now considered insulting. How can you not know that if you're claiming to be up and hip to the uses and permutations of language?
2) Number 1 doesn't even fucking matter, because you don't get to claim language that does not apply to you. As a favorite blog of mine would say nothing happens in a void. Claiming that when you used the word "retarded" you were attempting to use its medical definition is like claiming that when you said the opposing team "raped" you, you just meant that they pillaged your land. A large number of slurs have a large number of ugly histories, and you can't ignore that. If you are attempting to ignore that, you are probably practicing willful ignorance. If you have been on the internet for seven minutes, you have probably seen the word "retarded" used as a pejorative seven times (yes, once a minute. You're probably at Cracked or Something Awful, aren't you?). You might see it used clinically....um...maybe once. If you googled it.
3) If someone with experience tells you a word is a bad one to use, listen to them. And on that note:
3b) Learn how to Fuck Up
Now I need another martini.
I bring this up because my flist has a bit of mini-drama. Someone used a word they really shouldn't have in the title of a story. Instead of apologizing, like one does, they tried to defend their position. This always leads to bad news. Oh, why am I telling you no one is allowed to call me a bitch?
Because this boils down to co-option of language. There are a number of terms, you've probably heard them, that some people use to put people in their place, to tell them that they are bad or wrong. Quiet often, it seems, women get the "Stupid Bitch" one.
Now, I can be a bitch. My best friend calls be a bitch all the time. But she's allowed, and I'm a allowed, and no one else is. People I don't know abused that word. They can no longer be trusted with using it.
Similarly, you don't get to use the word "retarded" unless you have cause to fucking own it. On that note, most people don't have cause to fucking own it. See:
1) The most obvious problem with trying to use a "correct" definition of an actual medical definition is that, if you are not a doctor, and the character has never been prescribed a diagnosis, you have no basis for your description. You are nothing more than an armchair psychologist, and your argument has no more merit than someone who says that a character is obviously "bi-polar" because he yelled at a puppy.
Furthermore, a five second Google search can tell you why this is a bad fucking basis for your language choice.
The term "mental retardation" is a diagnostic term denoting the group of disconnected categories of mental functioning such as "idiot", "imbecile", and "moron" derived from early IQ tests, which acquired pejorative connotations in popular discourse. The term "mental retardation" acquired pejorative and shameful connotations over the last few decades due to the use of the words "retarded" and "retard" as insults. This may have contributed to its replacement with euphemisms such as "mentally challenged" or "intellectually disabled". While "developmental disability" may be considered to subsume other disorders (see below), "developmental disability" and "developmental delay" (for people under the age of 18), are generally considered more acceptable terms than "mental retardation".
"Retarded", like a number of pejorative terms before it, is on its way out as a clinical diagnosis because it's now considered insulting. How can you not know that if you're claiming to be up and hip to the uses and permutations of language?
2) Number 1 doesn't even fucking matter, because you don't get to claim language that does not apply to you. As a favorite blog of mine would say nothing happens in a void. Claiming that when you used the word "retarded" you were attempting to use its medical definition is like claiming that when you said the opposing team "raped" you, you just meant that they pillaged your land. A large number of slurs have a large number of ugly histories, and you can't ignore that. If you are attempting to ignore that, you are probably practicing willful ignorance. If you have been on the internet for seven minutes, you have probably seen the word "retarded" used as a pejorative seven times (yes, once a minute. You're probably at Cracked or Something Awful, aren't you?). You might see it used clinically....um...maybe once. If you googled it.
3) If someone with experience tells you a word is a bad one to use, listen to them. And on that note:
3b) Learn how to Fuck Up
Now I need another martini.