Monday, January 9, 2012

Cripple vs. Retard

Yo!

Today I'm gonna answer a question that I've been asked a few times, especially since starting this blog. Clearly I'm very comfortable with using the word 'cripple', but what about the word 'retard'?
This is probably gonna sound really hypocritical, but I do NOT approve of using that word. While both might seem very similar they are actually rather different. The word cripple literally means "disabled", the word retard literally means "slow" or "delayed". The terms start to differentiate here because over the past several years the word retard has come to mean "stupid" and now has a very negative connotation, but the term can still be used to describe a person with a developmental disability. This is why I don't use the word retard, because people with developmental delays are NOT stupid, I will not use a word that implies that.
I hope that's a clear enough explanation. The only other way I could prove my point would be to provide an example. Take the name of this blog for example, if this blog was named "Retard's Room" or "Tard-ie Time" what would think this blog was about? While the word cripple is considered offensive to some people, I do not put it on the same level as retard.

Crippie's Tippie- Don't call people retards, or gay for that matter. In this age of bullying and being cruel to one another how's about we try being nice to one another!

3 comments:

  1. Have you seen "The Descendants?" A friend of mine whose son has physical and mental disabilities saw it and was very offended by one particular scene. My take (having just seen the film this week) is that the scene is purposefully offensive, but I do question whether the director/script writer made that clear enough.

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    Replies
    1. Haven't seen it yet, but if it's anything like the controversy that surrounded "Tropic Thunder" I'm gonna guess that the scene is intentionally offensive

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  2. Hi friend. I'm not even fond of the word "crippie," but since it's you that is using the term, it's okay and even kind of cute. I don't care for any of those terms that tend to put people down.

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