• About Kathy Shaidle
  • Kathy Shaidle: Donate
  • Kathy Shaidle: Privacy policy

5 Feet of Fury

Kathy Shaidle's blog. Est. 2000

‘The case against banning the word retard’

February 15, 2010 By admin

A must-read:

As I was growing up in the 1970s, my father worked for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, one of the now-renamed state agencies. The term “retardation” was common in my home and life, but it was sterile and clinical. It is only in the past generation that the medical term turned into the slang “retard” and gained power as an insult. The shift is even apparent in popular movies. There was little public controversy when Matt Dillon tried to woo Cameron Diaz in the 1998 hit comedy “There’s Something About Mary” by confessing his passion: “I work with retards.” (Diaz’s character, Mary, had a mentally disabled brother.) But 10 years later, in the comedy “Tropic Thunder,” Robert Downey Jr.’s use of the phrase “full retard” led to picketing and calls for a boycott. (…)

I’ve coined a term for overzealous or extreme responses to insulting words: “word fetish.” Those under the influence of word fetish aren’t content to refrain from using a certain word; they are set on eradicating any use by others.

A classic example was the plight of David Howard, a white employee in the D.C. mayor’s office in 1999. Howard told staff members that because of budget cuts, he would have to be “niggardly” with available funds. Wrongly believing “niggardly” was a variation of the N-word, black subordinates lobbied for his resignation. Howard ultimately resigned after public protests, though he was soon reinstated.

If the campaign against “retard” is successful, an identical risk of word fetish exists. (Imagine that Emanuel had spoken of “retarding the opposition” — would that be unacceptable?) 

More from my site

  • ‘ If I keep turning up, I might be able to stand tall enough to look Kathy Shaidle in the eye’‘ If I keep turning up, I might be able to stand tall enough to look Kathy Shaidle in the eye’
  • Dear Muslims: you are weird.Dear Muslims: you are weird.
  • The United Church is a sick, senile, crazy old woman who just won’t die and nobody goes to visitThe United Church is a sick, senile, crazy old woman who just won’t die and nobody goes to visit
  • Rick McGinnis: Canada is “an incredibly lame excuse for a country”Rick McGinnis: Canada is “an incredibly lame excuse for a country”

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: :entry:fivefeet-2010-02-15-0004

« War of the Poses: antebellum notes on Yvette Vickers
‘Don’t blame the Na’vi, mind you…’ »
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Archives

Copyright © 2022 · Magazine Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in