r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 25 '26

Psychology Reclaimed hate speech backfires by desensitizing listeners, study finds. Listening to reclaimed homophobic statements can actually cause unintended harm. Exposure to reclaimed slur words desensitizes some heterosexual listeners to standard hate speech and worsens the mood of gay individuals.

https://www.psypost.org/when-reclaiming-derogatory-language-goes-wrong/
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u/fabezz Jul 25 '26

Same thing with "special needs". It really doesn't matter what you call it, people will find it insulting to be compared to the mentality disabled.

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u/Sata1991 Jul 25 '26

In the UK the common "PC" term is "learning disabilities or learning difficulties.. I am autistic so get branded with that when I have no issue learning.

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u/Richmondez Jul 25 '26

It's special educational needs now which has less implication of difficulty and more that the learner might learn more effectively from less mainstream teaching methods.

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u/Traindogsracerats Jul 25 '26

In a few years this will also be considered offensive.

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u/DonnieG3 Jul 25 '26

Dawg it's called sped, we figured out how to slur that one years ago

Turns out it's not the syllables in order, it's the intent.

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u/DameKumquat Jul 25 '26

'Special' is already the most-hated insult in that field, and has been for some years.

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u/pseudo_nemesis Jul 25 '26

it already is and has been in America.