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Discriminating Words
I find this behavior not only rude and ignorant, but truly bizarre.
By Catherine Cai
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High school student Catherine Cai questions how one measures the offensiveness of various types of discrimination
As a teenager, I hear my peers carelessly tossing around degrading, misapplied terms all the time, whether it's describing school as 'gay' or an idea as 'retarded'. I find this behavior not only rude and ignorant, but truly bizarre. It's not like inanimate objects even have sexual orientations or IQs, so when the terms "gay" and "retarded" are used in this way, it just comes off as a manifestation of intolerance and fear. Since when did 'retarded' and 'gay' become synonymous with 'defective' anyways?
The worst thing about these slurs is that when they are used, they attack entire groups of people in addition to whatever else is being criticized. These words have become so firmly rooted in modern day slang that people don't even think twice about the social repercussions of using them. Occasionally someone will argue that these terms can be used in a way that is not offensive. However, racial slights are considered taboo regardless of the context.
The "N-word" is considered too offensive to use in this commentary whereas the word 'faggot' is not. Why is it that we care more about certain types of discrimination than others?
When people overlook the usage of these slurs, it practically condones homophobia and discrimination against the mentally challenged, letting them continue on as subtle, but prevalent prejudices in our society.
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