I find the campaign against the word "retarded" hypocritical

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9 Comments

While I do realize that words can hurt, I find it silly how so much taboo and effort is put against the word "retarded" when we in turn use a whole bunch of abelist language all the time. I mean in everyday speech, we use the word "dumb" which means mute, "demented" which means a type of severe brain disease like Alzheimer's, and "lame" which means unable to walk.

I've seen people say stuff like "Don't say retarded, it's wrong. Use dumb instead" and I facepalm. Do the mute deserve to be derided anymore than the mentally challenged? Even worse, while the r-word gets so much attention, people use the word "demented" so frequently and even use it in kids stuff (ex. Super Mario World). I know people with dementia and it is a really crippling and heartbreaking process, yet the word "demented" as an insult rarely gets called out by the media.

I do not think it is right to treat the disabled (and that includes the mentally challenged) as lower beings, but I find the emphasis on the r-word idiotically hypocritical when in general our vocabulary is full of and rife with "abelist" words that don't seem to offend most of their respective referred groups of disabled people. It's hypocritical.

Is it normal to think this?

Voting Results
91% Normal
Based on 54 votes (49 yes)
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Comments ( 9 )
  • [Old Memory]
    9 years ago

    Before the word retarded was used as a diagnosis, people with low IQ scores were diagnosed with labels such as idiot, imbecile, and moron, which were replaced by severe, moderate and mild retardation respectively.
    Because the new term started being used as an insult as well, medical books have changed the diagnosis to "intellectual disorder" which doesn't sound as easy to use as an insult.

    Words such as dumb (Mutism) stupid (Catatonia) and Lame (Unable to walk) have also been retired. Dementia is still currently used however.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      9 years ago

      I know.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      9 years ago

      Also, "dumb" is still being used to refer to Mutism in several contexts. People are still saying "dumb, deaf and blind" when referring to "unable to talk, unable to hear and unable to see".

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  • zoffix
    9 years ago

    Glad I'm not the only one who thinks exactly like that.

    I think it's just part of the series of where people are getting offended on behalf of someone else. There really isn't a good substitute for "retarded," in its insult context. I think the advocates against the word simply lack understanding of context. As you pointed in one of the comments, many who use "retarded" as an insult, do not think about disorders and what not. It's all about context.

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  • LAR23
    9 years ago

    In the depths of the social justice movement or on the bitchy places in the internet many people advocate against using that kind of language at all. However "retarded" is usually considered a more harsh and malicious term than the others, and only ever refers to a mentally handicapped person or directly uses that label as an insult. When we call someone dumb we're generally saying they lack intelligence, not that they're disabled. No one thinks of dementia when they say demented. Plus those kinds of words are more ingrained in our language. How else would we insult each other? :)

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      9 years ago

      The thing is that a whole lot of people don't think of mentally handicapped people when they say "retarded", and only use it to refer to extreme stupidity. Dumb is also quite commonly in use to refer to mute people. Demented to refer to dementia is still in use in dictionaries.

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  • wistfulmaiden
    9 years ago

    As much as I think its insensitive and rude to call someone a retard, I think its a bad thing to have Word police and sensoring. Ever read "1984"? The whole idea of "thought crime" is becoming more of a reality.
    I may not agree with peoples choice of words but as far as I know there is still free speech.

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  • runnergirl13
    9 years ago

    Very good reasoning, i completely agree with you

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  • searchy
    9 years ago

    I had a camp counselor pin me to the ground and slap me because I used the word retarded. He goes around calling people idiot which is even worse. Idiot is the most severe mental disability. Idiots can't control their own bodily processes such as eating or drinking. Even to this day, I still want to shank him.

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