this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2025
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BothsidesistFraud
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"Retard" is a great insult and no normal person believes it's harmful to the intellectually disabled (self.opinionhavers)
submitted 1 week ago by BothsidesistFraud to c/opinionhavers
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"Retard" is the perfect length for an insult and lends itself very well for emphasis. It rolls off the tongue in anger or disgust very well. Like with most insults, nobody even thinks about what it actually means (see: "motherfucker", "dumbass", etc) any more.

Furthermore, nobody calls the intellectually disabled "retards", and "retarded" is also quite rare now as is "mental retardation". So "retard" is perfect for repurposing as a general purpose insult. People who get up in arms about this are basically saying that the mentally handicapped are retards, which they are not, a "retard" is NOW your dumb friend who you are making fun of, and not an intellectually disabled person you never met.

Get angry about something else. Removing the slur from the intellectually disabled is a good thing.

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[–] NineMileTower 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

There are two trains of thought on this issue that it really boils down to.

  1. I don't use the word because I don't want to be rude towards anyone. I might offend someone somewhere and wish not to have that consequence.
  2. I'm going to use the word because the people around me are accepting of it. I understand there may be consequences.

Whatever allows you to sleep at night is the right answer for you, but there's always consequences to your actions.

[–] BothsidesistFraud 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thank you for discourse

[–] NineMileTower 1 points 1 week ago

Thank you for being you.