this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2024
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Honest question, why is "braindead" ableist? I don't think that the term is used to discriminate against, uh, dead people lol
Some people disagree, though IMO it is ultimately ableist.
The term "braindead" originates from braindeath, a mental condition, and can also be taken in similar contexts to the "R-word."
Are you sure about braindeath being a mental condition? My thoughts, confirmed by quick googling, was a medical-legal standard for death based on permanent death of the brain. As a person can otherwise be vegetative/comatosed or whatever, or like a liver can keep operating for a while etc.
As an insult I think it's meant to be taken as "This is only explainable if you have no brain activity" not "you are like a living human with a different or damaged brain".
braindeath isn't just a mental condition though. It's death
The original series Quantum Leap used the R-word referring to people with mental difficulties not as an insult. I understand today times have changed and used as a slur. Still used in medication today, meaning slow release tablets.
It is not.
That’s a different context.