This is a screenshot giving personal information about that sexist rat bastard Nicholas Fuentes. Specifically: Full name: Nicholas J Fuentes Current home address: 1826 Home Avenue Berwyn, IL 60402 Telephone number: (708) 352-7859
Report all you want. This is not getting taken down. Fuck nazis.
Ah, alright, my mistake. That was the only word in the phrase “An ableist is someone who discriminates against people based on disabilities.” that I could have seen as being construed as a slur. What word was it that you would say is a slur, then?
The word is m*ron.
E: for some reason the link won’t link properly, so here it is, with a good explanation of why:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0388000119302785#%3A~%3Atext=2)-,Jacob%20is%20a%20moron,-. (it still won’t link to the right part, the whole thing is relevant, but you’d need to scroll down a little for the example)
Yeah, someone else corrected me, sorry about that! I’ll be honest, it’s a word I use myself to describe someone who is willfully unintelligent rather than being disabled. I’m trying to find another word now to describe Nick; it’s important to publicly make fun of such people - clearly being silent about their bad behavior has only made our cultural and political climate worse. “Ignorant” is the closest I’ve gotten, but I can’t see myself pointing and laughing at someone, calling them “ignorant,” you know?
You’re good, apologies if I was a little defensive, people generally don’t react well when you point ableism out, so I had my back up.
“Ignorant” is good, “wilfully ignorant” is better because it implies intent (or deliberate lack of intent) rather than the ignorance being out of their control like it might be for someone who actually has a learning disability for example.
In general, any derogatory term that berates someone for something beyond their control, like intelligence, or that used to be a clinical term and is now used as derogatory, is best avoided, not only because those terms are and have historically been used generally against disabled people, but because they also provide bigots with an “out”, it’s removing their responsability for their own actions.
There are quite a few lists out there with ableist slurs and alternatives for them, here are a couple of examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disability-related_terms_with_negative_connotations
https://www.autistichoya.com/p/ableist-words-and-terms-to-avoid.html
https://therollingexplorer.com/category/disability-advocacy/ableist-language-series/
https://web.archive.org/web/20240112142654/https://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/stupid-is-an-ableist-slur-breaking-down-defenses-around-ableist-language-liberating-our-words/
https://libguides.ufv.ca/c.php?g=705905&p=5193383
https://genderbitch.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/words-offense/ this one is not a list, but a good breakdown on why it’s important to avoid slurs (and spoiler, it isn’t offense) .
Oh, nice, thanks! I’ll check those out!
You’re welcome!
None of the lists are exhaustive or perfect, of course, and there are many others out there as well as articles and blogs going in to more detail about ableist language, but the general rule behind which words to avoid stays pretty much consistent.
And also none of us are perfect and we will make mistakes (even those of us who are disabled have internalised and lateral ableism since we were socialised in an ableist world!), it’s about being willing to learn from our mistakes and improve, rather than double down.
I wholeheartedly agree. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, like every day a new word I use is considered offensive, but I try to remember that it’s all coming from the desire to be more mindful of the people around us, and in the end it’s not too hard for me to find - or even just make - another word to convey what I need.
Exactly, it might take us some minor adjusting (sometimes even because of our disability, like for example with poor memory or a learning disability that makes it hard to adjust to new patterns), but if it makes people around us feel safer and more included (E: excluding bigots, always excluding bigots, with accordance to the tolerance paradox/social contract!), it’s 100% worth it, without any question.
People who consciously refuse to take such minor consideration of those around them are just broadcasting their intolerance.