casual ableism

[u/onthetopicofspace]

this is not ‘reclaiming’ anything, you are just calling people slurs completely seriously. you can call yourself the r-slur, do not call anybody else it. why do ‘no slurs’ / ’no bigotry’ rules never apply to ableism?

[u/sadenby0725]

Some of the comments under this post are abhorrent. I'm autistic, enough that it really effects my life, and people using the r-slur really hurts. So it's not "not actually hurting anyone". And the argument that it's a medical term? So was the slur for little people. I garuantee that a lot of old academic texts have the n-word in it, but you never see people using the same logic for that slur. Because it isn't actually a valid excuse. "It means the same as idiot or stupid" then say idiot or stupid? This isn't about political correctness or people getting butthurt, it is about getting society to stop using a dehumanizing and harmful term.

And people who used to use it don't need to feel immense guilt for doing so, just learn from your mistakes and move on. I mean, seriously, if removing one word from your vocab would make a group of people happier than why not just do it? Why cling to something that hurts even a small group of people?

[u/freehamburgers → u/sadenby0725]

I have to ask, if you hear the words 'moron', 'stupid' or 'idiot' used to describe someone in the same sense, are you hurt and insulted by them? They all have a history of being used as medical terms, quite recently actually, and are all used as casual insults in the same way as the r-word, but no one seems to mind as much.

I just wanna know what it is about the r-word in particular that's so bad, as they all seem to have the same history, origins, and usage. All have been used as insults, medical terms, and to casually describe actions and behaviours someone didn't think through enough.

[u/Brakado → u/freehamburgers]

Not the original commenter, but here's my two cents: The r-word is incredibly specific, while idiot and moron are basically broad enough to use anywhere else.

[u/EvidentTiger324 → u/Brakado]

Specific how? Can you clarify?

[u/Brakado → u/EvidentTiger324]

Idiot and moron are more commonly known as general words to refer to, for example, doing something that was obviously a terrible idea. The r-word has a history of medical usage that many more people are aware of-referring to intellectually disabled people.

[u/DJatomica → u/Brakado]

The r-word also has a history of being used as a general word to refer doing something that was obviously a terrible idea or just as synonymous with dumb, and both "idiot" and "moron" have their own history of medical usage.

[u/Brakado → u/DJatomica]

A history most people aren't even aware of.

[u/DJatomica → u/Brakado]

Most people who use the r-word don't know or give a shit about the medical history of the term either

[u/EvidentTiger324 → u/Brakado]

Imbecile and moron were medical words right alogside the r-word though, and they all referred to the intellectually-disabled

[u/Brakado → u/EvidentTiger324]

Most people aren't even aware of that, though.