Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Things that make you go hmm...



Why is it not okay to say that something is "the r word", but it is okay to say that something is "lame"? Perhaps because The L word was already a popular program on Showtime?

Think about it: Both words are used to mean the same thing (i.e. something sucks,) and they both reference a group of marginalized people. But one has a whole campaign around eradicating its use, while the other is still used by people on a daily basis. Wassup wit dat?
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Posted by myblackfriendsays at 11:48 AM

4 comments:

  1. I suppose because "lame" isn't associated as much anymore with physical disability like "retarded" is with cognitive disability. Physically disabled/handi-capable seems to be more used to describe physical disability, whereas Cognitively Disabled has yet to catch on. Oh, and then there is also the issue of "gay" being used to describe something that is dumb/sucks and describes a marginalized group as well, but there have also been commercials for that.
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  2. It is an interesting question, the answer to which I do not know.
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  3. For that matter, do we really mean that something "sucks" or is "dumb"? JD
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  4. just to add to the mix - saying that something "sucks" stems from homophobic ideology. AND 'just kidding' equates kids with not serious/ but kids can be serious and adults SHOULD be more fun! But to answer your question - I don't think people remember where these words come from, or rather - they don't take the time to reflect on the words we/they use on a daily basis - but it clearly proves important to do so.
    MT
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