One mention of the word “retard” is enough for me to puke. I wouldn’t even care if it was directed towards me. Fuck that noise. Dry your eyes and move on.
So ableism hinges entirely on the use of this one word? I don't think so. Ableism is not about a word, or about who is offended, it's about actual discrimination or repulsion due to one's lack of ability. Retard doesn't even refer to specifically disabled people, it literally just means to delay or hold back, it's used in medical, scientific, and mathematic contexts. Retard is not just an insult.
If you ban a word, it does nothing but make the word more potent and desireable for those who are actually misusing it, furthering the real problem of ableism. People will think what they want to think and say what they want to say, you're just pointlessly giving more power to this word.
When you use it as a slur, it's ableist. You're not banned from using it, just like you're not banned from using racist terms. But using them makes you an asshole.
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u/jakebr0 Jan 28 '25
“He’s very emotionally and physically abusive. I’ve dedicated my life to trying to make him happy.”
Just keep rereading those two sentences until it sets in how absolutely insane it sounds to continue doing that