You can play this game with almost quite literally every term you could use in this context. Idiot was at one time a term for someone so profoundly mentally impaired that their “mental age” was said to be no more than two years old. What is now known as the “r-slur” was literally introduced as a kinder, more polite alternative to words like idiot, moron, and imbecile because they were seen as too derogatory. Only to be later retired when it began to itself be seen as too derogatory.
It’s referred to as the Euphemism Treadmill. People create some euphemism to refer to some unpleasant topic. Eventually that term becomes basically tainted by its association to that topic and itself becomes unpleasant, then a new euphemism gets created.
When it comes to ableism it’s often the case that those wishing to be ableist will directly start using the new euphemism in a derogatory manner because they feel the old one has lost its “punch” so to speak. There’s a certain aspect of weaponizing the “correct terminology” that is itself the appeal to many of them.
I’m not trying to say you are. Nor am I trying to attack you for wanting to change the words you use to avoid hurting people. Not wanting to hurt people is a good thing. The point is that the words themselves aren’t the problem. The actual stigma that fuels ableism is. As I said there was a time when what we now know as the r-slur was the attempt to destigmatize those kinds of mental disabilities. In time it’s entirely likely that some or all of today’s inclusive language might be seen as too derogatory and something different will take its place.
There will always be bad actors who seek to misuse that desire to not hurt others. Whether that’s the person willfully twisting the language that tries to destigmatize into something that hurts, or someone being performatively offended by someone not using the exact correct terminology and implying their own moral superiority.
The point is that at a certain point policing language does nothing to combat ableism. Relabeling a thing on its own tends to do very little to lessen the stigma of that thing.
You can play this game with almost quite literally every term you could use in this context. Idiot was at one time a term for someone so profoundly mentally impaired that their “mental age” was said to be no more than two years old. What is now known as the “r-slur” was literally introduced as a kinder, more polite alternative to words like idiot, moron, and imbecile because they were seen as too derogatory. Only to be later retired when it began to itself be seen as too derogatory.
It’s referred to as the Euphemism Treadmill. People create some euphemism to refer to some unpleasant topic. Eventually that term becomes basically tainted by its association to that topic and itself becomes unpleasant, then a new euphemism gets created.
When it comes to ableism it’s often the case that those wishing to be ableist will directly start using the new euphemism in a derogatory manner because they feel the old one has lost its “punch” so to speak. There’s a certain aspect of weaponizing the “correct terminology” that is itself the appeal to many of them.
I want to share something I found funny, without hurting others I accidentally already hurt. I do not intend to weaponize words.
Shove your rhetorical game off my humorous meme.
I’m not trying to say you are. Nor am I trying to attack you for wanting to change the words you use to avoid hurting people. Not wanting to hurt people is a good thing. The point is that the words themselves aren’t the problem. The actual stigma that fuels ableism is. As I said there was a time when what we now know as the r-slur was the attempt to destigmatize those kinds of mental disabilities. In time it’s entirely likely that some or all of today’s inclusive language might be seen as too derogatory and something different will take its place.
There will always be bad actors who seek to misuse that desire to not hurt others. Whether that’s the person willfully twisting the language that tries to destigmatize into something that hurts, or someone being performatively offended by someone not using the exact correct terminology and implying their own moral superiority.
The point is that at a certain point policing language does nothing to combat ableism. Relabeling a thing on its own tends to do very little to lessen the stigma of that thing.