Make this word against the rules, please

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Juke

5:02pm Dec 25 2014

Content Manager

Posts: 3,122

Personally, I find the word "retarded" to be an ableist slur. I would really like it if this word could be made officially against the rules.

Various related articles that explain it more than I can;

Kaleria

5:50pm Jan 15 2015

Normal User

Posts: 73

Support but keep reading.

Consider that Autistic is rapidly replacing retarded in common parlance. Do we make Autistic a banned word as well when people simply use that instead? What about every other word that was not intended to be offensive, that can be made so by context?

'Oh they're Special'

'That's Gay'

'He's a Moron'

'Well you're Cis'

'She's Normal'

'They're just Delicate'

'She's Crazy'

'He's Insane'

There are lots of words that can be used as slurs and frequently are. We cannot ban them all. Yes, retarded is offensive and often used inappropriately. In this instance I agree and support, but I worry about opening the door to banning words because someone thinks it's offensive. That could be a very slippery slope.

I would rather see conversation judged on context than ban words outright.

Flammable

6:43pm Jan 15 2015

Normal User

Posts: 156

Rule #1

Unicorn

12:03am Jan 17 2015

Normal User

Posts: 2,056

I support this as well, I take great offense to the word. I also think most words used in degrading or hurtful manners should be dealt with in a more serious way. With bullying on the rise res needs to be a safe place people can feel comfortable with. As for what you said kaleria, i agree with you sort of. Autistic is defined as a mental condition, present from early childhood, characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts, res also has several autistic members who will gladly talk about their condition and are not offended when autism is brought up

where as the word retarded is defined as less advanced in mental, physical, or social development than is usual for one's age. the word retard has been used to offend people and often as an insult. I also don't think we should be allowed to say "Thats gay, or you're so gay" because that is offensive to a large number of people as well.

RAINBOWS and STUFF

PreviousBlue

11:27pm Jan 17 2015 (last edited on 11:29pm Jan 17 2015)

Normal User

Posts: 611

Agree with the post about Rule #1. Anything found offensive by someone should be reported immediately to be dealt with by staff. While I see where the reasoning for this is, there are plenty of other words or phrases that should also be blocked or filtered out because they are "offensive" like the "that's so gay" or "she's crazy" as mentioned above, but all of these words point back to Rule #1 that everyone is /supposed/ to read when they first sign up.
Again if you see something that you personally feel is offensive, please report it to staff immediately.
Sorry I do not support this ;c

Kittykat

11:54pm Jan 17 2015 (last edited on 11:57pm Jan 17 2015)

Normal User

Posts: 1,477

I'm going to have to agree with Flammable and Blue's points.

The word 'retarded' itself can be troublesome and extremely offensive, but that can also be the case for many, MANY other words, as Kaleria has mentioned.

We live in a world full of different races, sexual orientations, disabilities, ecetera. There will be many words that would be considered offensive and demeaning to many different people in many different cultures, which is something we can't help.

What we can help though, is how the word itself is used- if it's used in a manner that is rude, offensive or not appropriate, it needs to be reported ASAP to be dealt with appropriately.

I like this suggestion, but I believe that we should be acting based on how the word is used, not the word itself.

No Support 8c

crowflux

5:19am Jan 18 2015

Administrator

Posts: 334

(Support of not supporting using words for harm.)

I feel banning the word simply because it has been used in a derogatory sense won't solve the issue. The word actually originated to describe something that is the act or result of delaying.

(Quick google search:)

re·tard

verb

riˈtärd/

1.
delay or hold back in terms of progress, development, or accomplishment.
"his progress was retarded by his limp"
synonyms: delay, slow down, slow up, hold back, hold up, set back, postpone,put back, detain, decelerate;

Eiji

4:37pm Feb 12 2015

Normal User

Posts: 1,062

I think it's more how the word has evolved beyond the dictionary definition into a slur, but yeah, I agree with Matt and the others on this. Rule #1 kind of brings that into consideration, I feel.