I find myself asking this question every time I hear people use derogatory language in offensive ways. Ways that merely perpetuate the stereotypes that marginalized groups are attempting to escape when they reclaim those words. How is it so empowering to call yourself what your oppressor has been calling you forever? Does it heal wounds? And can those very wounds be reopened when people who have nothing to do with your identity use those very words haphazardly? In daily conversation, in jest, in their music, on the news, and in frustration. We need to stop looking at individuals as the culprits when we live in cultures that encourage racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic ideas.
I have chosen to not use those words that victimize people. I don’t really see anything empowering or funny about it. Over the years, I’ve realized that language affects the way human beings think of things. It reflects and influences our biases and our feelings about the world and the people in it. So why don’t we start making the world a better place by omitting such language from our speech?
Cultures change when ideological shift occurs. That means we need to start thinking about diversity in new ways. Do you know any LGBT people, feminists, Muslims, Jews, Christian minorities, or any one who comes from a different ethnic, cultural, or religious background from your own? Think about the one group of people you know nothing about. Now go out and explore. Learn about them and form your own opinion. Too often we stay within our own comfort zones and passively accept the information that is fed to us on a daily basis. We are not getting the full story when we do this. Ask individuals how they feel about the words that oppress them. Ask them what they would like to be called. I believe that this is how we empower our fellow human beings.
Reclaiming Derogatory Language: Is It Empowering?
I find myself asking this question every time I hear people use derogatory language in offensive ways. Ways that merely perpetuate the stereotypes that marginalized groups are attempting to escape when they reclaim those words. How is it so empowering to call yourself what your oppressor has been calling you forever? Does it heal wounds? And can those very wounds be reopened when people who have nothing to do with your identity use those very words haphazardly? In daily conversation, in jest, in their music, on the news, and in frustration. We need to stop looking at individuals as the culprits when we live in cultures that encourage racist, sexist, homophobic, and xenophobic ideas.
I have chosen to not use those words that victimize people. I don’t really see anything empowering or funny about it. Over the years, I’ve realized that language affects the way human beings think of things. It reflects and influences our biases and our feelings about the world and the people in it. So why don’t we start making the world a better place by omitting such language from our speech?
Cultures change when ideological shift occurs. That means we need to start thinking about diversity in new ways. Do you know any LGBT people, feminists, Muslims, Jews, Christian minorities, or any one who comes from a different ethnic, cultural, or religious background from your own? Think about the one group of people you know nothing about. Now go out and explore. Learn about them and form your own opinion. Too often we stay within our own comfort zones and passively accept the information that is fed to us on a daily basis. We are not getting the full story when we do this. Ask individuals how they feel about the words that oppress them. Ask them what they would like to be called. I believe that this is how we empower our fellow human beings.