this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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The harmful ableist language you unknowingly use (www.bbc.com)
submitted 1 year ago by Ransom@lemmy.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca
6 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

As a disabled person, I face ableism and ableist language every day. Some people use ableist language without even knowing that it is ableist. I thought it would be good for folks to take a look at the attached BBC article and expand their perspectives a bit.

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[–] ram@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But the fact is, discussions about the negative effect of a word such as “dumb” – a term originally denoting a deaf person who did not use speech, but which now functions as slang for something brutish, uninteresting or of low intelligence

Speaking of facts

dumb (adj.)

Old English dumb, of persons, "mute, silent, refraining from speaking or unable to speak," from Proto-Germanic *dumbaz "dumb, dull," which is perhaps from PIE *dheubh- "confusion, stupefaction, dizziness,"

Now, as for actual discussion to be had, unfortunately our language is entirely coded in slights towards different groups of people. In calling someone "a sinister villain who's a part of a cabal", I've called them a left (handed) farmer who is Jewish.

At some point we do need to accept that these negative words, which are at their fundamentals, slights to certain groups of people, have taken on a new meaning, and that their misuse as slights against those people only really applies contextually. I do think that terms like "stupid" and "idiot" have achieved that level of shift.

Feel free to disagree with me of course, I'm not here to tell you you or your experience is wrong, and I'm more than happy to have an actual discussion on this. ❤️

[–] NightAuthor@beehaw.org 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Agreed, but for words like that to make such a shift, there was a period where the words were still super offensive and used anyways. And if we are more enlightened now, we should have less of these words going forward. Like I think we’ve largely stopped such a transformation of the word “retard(ed)”.

[–] ram@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I personally have completely nixed the R word from my vocabulary. I agree that there was a time when some terms were super offensive, or the history of a term is one leaded in negative use towards marginalized peoples. I'm just not convinced that these terms in particular are ones I need to care about.

[–] Ransom@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you’ve stopped using the r word because it’s offensive, that’s great! Really. Hopefully this discussion (like the linked article) will convince you that there are other terms commonly used that are just as offensive. If you can find alternatives to the r word, then you can also probably find alternatives to “deaf” and “stupid”, for example. Regardless, I appreciate that you’re trying!

[–] ram@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This isn't a new discussion I've seen, and it's something I've dealt with internally myself. It's also not as though this is a final answer. I do try to evade these words where I can, but generally I don't think they're harmful enough for me to "swear off" so to speak, if that makes sense? I'm not so dull as to say it's "a personal choice" - that stuff's just a cop-out for choosing the worst options, but I think that simply suggesting that some people may be offended by certain terms is enough to lend people to change their biases in terminology; or at least it is for me haha

Thanks for the good natured response. I appreciate that in this thread, given how intense some people seem to be.

[–] Ransom@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

I’m autistic, and so I come off pretty blunt sometimes. I am really passionate about disability justice, but blasting people just hardens their position and makes them unwilling to listen. I’m glad that you weren’t offended! :)