That’s the same as using certain racial slurs. Refraining from using them is a simple act of respect to those marginalized communities.
“Idiot” or “moron” isn’t commonly understood to be tied to a particular group on a modern context. It’s just a generic insult for a stupid person. Trying to compare that to the word of cocern in this post is comparing apples and oranges. It’s now clearly understood as an ableist word and a marginalized group is asking everyone not to use it, as it has very negative connotations for them.
Likewise, “Latinx” was never accepted amongst the Latino community, and only a tiny percentage of university students, most who weren’t even first generation, even cared about it. Using Latinx or Latine actually demonstrates cultural ignorance, as a gendered language doesn’t actually mean words are male, female, non-binary or anything in between. It’s just the rules of the language.
Using slurs against, or in the presence of marginalized people opens up all their old wounds again, wounds inflicted on them by privileged oppressors. These slurs were created with the intention of dehumanizing, insulting and punching down on certain groups, or implying inferiority of those groups when using it as an insult towards others (you’re equating a person to an “lesser” person of a marginalized group).
If you’re interested in studying systems of oppression, this should be an obvious thing to you. Oppression is perpetuated by direct physical and emotional violence, as well as systemic violence.
That’s the same as using certain racial slurs. Refraining from using them is a simple act of respect to those marginalized communities.
“Idiot” or “moron” isn’t commonly understood to be tied to a particular group on a modern context. It’s just a generic insult for a stupid person. Trying to compare that to the word of cocern in this post is comparing apples and oranges. It’s now clearly understood as an ableist word and a marginalized group is asking everyone not to use it, as it has very negative connotations for them.
Likewise, “Latinx” was never accepted amongst the Latino community, and only a tiny percentage of university students, most who weren’t even first generation, even cared about it. Using Latinx or Latine actually demonstrates cultural ignorance, as a gendered language doesn’t actually mean words are male, female, non-binary or anything in between. It’s just the rules of the language.
Using slurs against, or in the presence of marginalized people opens up all their old wounds again, wounds inflicted on them by privileged oppressors. These slurs were created with the intention of dehumanizing, insulting and punching down on certain groups, or implying inferiority of those groups when using it as an insult towards others (you’re equating a person to an “lesser” person of a marginalized group).
If you’re interested in studying systems of oppression, this should be an obvious thing to you. Oppression is perpetuated by direct physical and emotional violence, as well as systemic violence.