Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   cavewoman rika :nonbinaryFlag: (mrjunge@raru.re)'s status on Tuesday, 28-Jan-2025 02:28:00 JST cavewoman rika :nonbinaryFlag:

   Saw this video by a Gen Zer and to sum it up the whole point was basically, “these newer kids coming up are turning neutral terms into code words for slurs now that traditional slurs can no longer be said without consequence and a marginalized person’s vector of privilege is sometimes used for covert bigotry while a privileged person’s marginalizations is sometimes used as a shield from criticism.” It took Gen Z that long to figure out that language policing is the most futile part of activism? It’s useful to getting a sense of respect by asserting boundaries at an interpersonal level, but that isn’t activism, and changing what words the entirety of society can use barely budges social norms any particular way because it reduces politics to an endless word game. I’m speechless. This is so basic. And no, I’m not one of those people who are like, “oh my god I’m entitled to call you (insert offensive term) without having to confront your personal feelings about it.” But the fact that the former point was always so constantly conflated with the latter, until now y’all are finally like, “oooohhhh?!?” Y’all don’t listen. lol

   • Embed this notice
     💜 AdoraBeryl 🩷 (rasp@raru.re)'s status on Tuesday, 28-Jan-2025 02:27:59 JST 💜 AdoraBeryl 🩷

     in reply to

     @mrjunge this is why I've always been more in favor of reclaiming slurs rather than trying to police their use. The way to disarm them is to dilute the meaning.

   • Embed this notice
     cavewoman rika :nonbinaryFlag: (mrjunge@raru.re)'s status on Tuesday, 28-Jan-2025 03:11:10 JST cavewoman rika :nonbinaryFlag:

     in reply to

     • 💜 AdoraBeryl 🩷

     @Rasp That may or may not work. I think reclamation can sometimes give more license for use outside the community under specific conditions. But I’m not trying to find some kind of ultimate proper way to use language to combat hostile language anyway and each person is welcome to decide how they want to engage with language and their experiences of language use. While it can be fine and interesting to talk about, I think it’s futile to try and find some reliable, slam dunk solution (within language use). I think it’s healthier to just let people draw their lines in the sand and for other people to respect that if they want to continue having any relationship.

     It literally just comes down to boundary respect. For example, just because I decided I want to reclaim what is otherwise a slur doesn’t mean other people with similar experiences to me don’t cope with the slur differently and may not want to hear it regardless. I’m not gonna say, “oh, but what’s the problem? It’s just a reclaimation.” For the same reason I also wouldn’t say, “oh but my friends let me use this word widely used as a slur” when I’m talking to a random stranger. Equally it would be silly for someone to insert thenselves into some random queer group and then start talking down to them because “queer?!? that’s actually a slur guys oh my god stop with this.” etc.