[nabs-l] Using the word retard

[Marc Workman]

Carly wrote,
       I often imagine people of so called minorities, being the ones who decide how it is that they would like to be referred.

This, I think, is meant to imply that people who have traditionally been labelled "retarded" prefer to be referred to in this way.  I'm really not sure this is true.  If there is evidence of this, I'd be interested.  I do know that there were some pretty widespread protests against the use of the word "retarded" in the movie Tropic Thunder.  A quick Google search will provide a lot of news coverage on this.  My understanding is that, though not everyone agreed with the criticisms, there was a pretty broad-based coalition of groups representing intellectually disabled people that came together to protest the film.

I'm all for reclaiming words, and I much prefer blind and disabled to terms like sight impaired and differently-abled.  But some labels are outdated and based on very negative attitudes and need to be retired.  I'm not handicapped, I'm not crippled, I'm not a person with special needs, the last of these being the one I dislike the most.  It's one thing for gay people to reclaim the label "queer", but that doesn't mean that, if one person is fine with being called a "fag", this is suddenly an acceptable word, and we shouldn't discourage it's use.

So what I'm wondering is if the label "retard" is like the word "queer" or "blind", if there is an actual effort to reclaim it and change what it means, or if it's closer to the word "fag" in my example above, a word that perhaps you and a few others are happy to identify with, but one that the vast majority of people who are sattled with that label reject.  The evidence I have points to the latter, but I'm prepared to revise my opinion based on new evidence.

In either case, Bridgit's right to point out that most of the time that "retarded" is used, e.g., that movie was retarded, my computer is being retarded, the word is not meant to refer to slowed down or unusual cognitive capacities.  I would hope that, at the very least, we can agree that kids calling each other, along with everything else under the sun, retarded is inappropriate and should be discouraged.

Regards,

Marc
On 2011-11-26, at 10:05 PM, Carly wrote:

> 
> 
> Hi, Bridgit,
> 
>        I often imagine people of so called minorities, being the ones who decide how it is that they would like to be referred. Too often, people ascribe these meaningless, labels to other groups. Like, who ever heard of someone who is "sight impaired?"
> 
> I don't know about you but I am just BLIND. I am not possessing of a set of actual, eyeballs  which could even be impaired. So To hell with all those terms whose function it seems to be, to put whichever speaker, at some kind of grater ease. :
>> Carly,
>> 
>> I never said we should completely eliminate the word retard from the
>> vernacular; I just don't appreciate the use in which most people now say
>> the word. It is often said with negative conotations, and I've heard
>> people from all age groups apply the word retard to a person, or thing,
>> with the intent to demean.
>> 
>> The word itself, yes, means simply slow. It's used in musical
>> composition, and it was originally used to describe people with slower
>> mental capacities, but it has taken on very negative tones, similar to
>> using the word "gay" as in homosexual, except it is often used in a
>> negative way and not to simply describe.
>> 
>> Sincerely,
>> Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
>> Read my blog at:
>> http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/
>> 
>> "History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
>> The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan
>> 
>> Message: 9
>> Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:54:40 -0800
>> From: Carly <carlymih at earthlink.net>
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>        <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Body language and facial expressions
>> Message-ID: <7.0.1.0.2.20111125171625.01cbae78 at earthlink.net>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
>> 
>> Hi, Marc, and Bridgit,
>> 
>>         If you notice, the word "retarded"
>> simply describes someone who is slower to
>> complete brain function.Furthermore, It doesn't
>> seem right by anyone's calculations  to,
>> effectively and literally as Brigit suggests
>> avoid that particular  word altogether, Wouldn't
>> Doing so be in some way singling those folks who
>> happened to process slower than is the norm, out?
>> If one is to get past the idea that, actual
>> intent in which something is termed, carries more
>> meaning than does  meaningless, verbeage which,
>> itself doesn't really communicate anything baring
>> substance?I am brain damaged, so my processing
>> functions seem  a little bit retarded sometimes
>> yet, I most certainly do not appreciate the
>> politically, correct construct they came up with,
>> that by effectively erasing the concept, of being
>> retarded, from the vernacular, so too will those
>> unsightlies, be effectively, erased?
>> in retardation,
>> Carly
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
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