A great point. However, the term "retarded" has taken the opposite track, historically. It went from a benign, medical term and was hijacked by society to become a term with negative application and connotation beyond its original use.ghettoperson wrote:
I personally think South Park put it best with their 'fag' episode. Society has adopted the word for other purposes, it doesn't have the same meaning or posses any hatred towards a specific group any more. Personally I think that's a good thing if we can move past the past usage. It's the same deal with retarded, and to an extent gay. Using gay is a tough one, since its still used in its original context. I obviously don't mean any offence to gay people when I say it, and to be honest I'd probably prefer if I could stop using it, but force of habit, you know? I have gay friends who I've heard using gay in the same way. It's just part of common language with our generation.
I think racist slurs are more difficult just because there are plenty of people still alive today who lived in a time when society was less equal and those words were used to demean them. It'll probably take a lot longer to move past those words, but I'm quite sure we eventually will.
I'm still amazed by people who are defending their ability to hurt people who've done nothing to them, and will never do anything to them.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular
― Albert Einstein
Doing the popular thing is not always right. Doing the right thing is not always popular