Board Thread:Community Voting/@comment-7847159-20150409225350/@comment-4041224-20150415125506

Riolu777 wrote: ZXSpidermanXZ wrote: I think people need to look up the actual definition of retard: delay or hold back in terms of progress, development, or accomplishment.

How is that in itself offensive? The word is also used to define a medical condition, but that is not it's original meaning. Obviously we aren't going to allow someone to say "You're a retard." as that's meant as a personal attack and is also an attack on mentally retarded people. But why can we not use a perfectly normal word that is not even a cuss word? It makes no sense.

All this argument is putting forth is that actual definition of "retard" in the dictionary...

"to make slow; delay the development or progress of (an action, process, etc.); hinder or impede. "

...is the usage of the word that should be allowed. I've never seen anyone on chat use that word in that way (which is the only way to use the word that the dictionary doesn't define as being "disparaging and offensive"). It's always been used as a modifier ("retarded") to describe something you guys think is dumb, unfair, uncool, or some other word of that essence. Using the word as a way to say that something is dumb, unfair, uncool, etc., is almost always offensive and hurtful to any person with disibilities. Same as using "gay" to mean dumb, unfair, uncool, etc. Any gay person that hears you use "gay" that way will feel hurt (unless they're thick-skinned), because, whether you intend it or not, you are using "gay", which is the label either they or society gives them, and you are using it to describe something negatively. How would that feel? From my own experience as a gay person, it doesn't feel good at all.

The same with "retarded" or "retard". Using it to describe something negatively only impresses in a disabled person's mind that, because they have disabilities and society has used the word "retard" repugnantly for decades in reference to people with disabilities, they will then take that personally, and it will hurt them. Because you're using that word used by so many people before to degrade said person with disabilities, and you would only be furthering the negative usage of it by using the word to describe something as being dumb, unfair, uncool, etc. Again, how would that feel?

That is all.

I think the major difference here is that unlike severe mental disabilities, being gay cannot be considered being deffective. You can easily be proud of it because your sexual orientation doesn't inhibit your physical or mental capabilities in any way, shape or form. Mental disabilities however are negatively connoted by default, not only by society but also by people who are affected. I doubt disabled people think that their medical condition is a good thing and are proud of it( if they're particularly fatalist then they might accept it as a fact of nature, but "uncool" is probably an understatement when you think about the impact it has on their lives.

While I do agree that it mustn't be used for pejorative comments towards disabled people, it really makes no sense to prohibit the other use.