31 ms·

It is the most common term I hear from people who "call out" autism disingenuously. It's not about the words or the stigma, it's about the assholes and not repe

• faeriechangling 5y ago
  >It's not about the words... it's about... their words. Feels somewhat contradictory. In terms of abuse, stigmatizing the word "Autist" won't prevent abuse, it will enable it. Language that expresses negative feelings about a group of people will always exist, all one can do is have influence over the exact language that is used in that expression and the context in which people use certain language. Censorship doesn't stop abuse, it changes how abuse is expressed. In this situation, if we censor "autist", people will still probably continue to use the word, but use it in private more often, and it will become more of a pure slur. People who use the word "Autist" also use "Autistic" as in "Autistic screeching" as a slur/backhanded compliment (And autistic is truly uncensorable) with a very similar connotation, so by stigmatizing "Autist" and giving it a more severe connotation consequently, you are actually increasing peoples ability to more fluently express their distaste of autistics by making the word "Autist" more distinct from "Autistic". Increasing peoples ability to express their distaste for autism more easily is the opposite of what censorship ought to aim to do.
  • spacemanmatt 5y ago
    Ever notice how black people can rap and sing about the N word, and say it to each other with at least 5 different meanings communicated just with verbal inflection, but it has exactly one meaning when a white person says it to a black person?