I?ve been wondering something for a while, and today pretty much was the final straw for me to write about it.
There have been many blogs, articles, videos and the like about it online and I?m one in so many. But here?s the issue.
Is ?autistic? as an insult becoming the new ?retarded?? Or the new N-word, in terms of taboo.
It has been a trend up and coming where people use ?autistic? as a derogatory term to insult someone. It happens in online gaming, it happened on twitter a while ago (by rapper 50 cent), apparently it even popped up in a rap song and today? I have to read about it, how it happens in dutch politics. Wait? what?! Let?s dissect that.
Calling.someone.autistic.as.a.way.to.insult.someone.happened.in.dutch.politics.
Anyone halfway familiar with Holland, Dutch politics and certain prominent figures right now, might have heard or seen Geert Wilders before. The good sir had some issues to enter Australia since the aussie government wasn?t too thrilled about his right wing ideologies. And I guess that?s fair enough. We don?t need extreme left or rightwing anywhere IMO? emphasis on the M of MY.
So what happened was that he did an interview for De Telegraaf (a national newspaper, which is quite a sensationalist newspaper, yet not as extreme as some of the British ones I?ve read in the past) and he ended up calling our Prime minister ?Pollitically autistic?. And while I can fully understand the context, I?m not sure if he used the right noun to go with his adverb (he could?ve used incompetent, since that?s clearly what he meant).
There is a taboo about calling someone out and retarded, by means of an insult, just like there?s a few other words. The N-word, the C-word? perhaps retarded is known as the R-word in some groups even.
The problem here however is; autism doesn?t have a good public relations department. People don?t know what it is. And a lot of people don?t care too much about their use of everyday lingo. But I wouldn?t be surprised if the less well informed folks would start using this word interchangeably as ?moron?, ?idiot?, ?imbecile?? and I?m not sure if it?s fair to label someone with, what in essence is a medical term because the general populous thinks it?s the same thing. We all know it?s not. And if I put it against a definition of retardation; to qualify to be a retard in the medical sense? in a way, that definition is more clear cut, to say the least. And I don?t want to discredit any people labeled with retardation, but from my understanding, the diagnostics for that are less of a grey area.
This problem further culminates, and this is how I actually found out about this outing by said politician. My girlfriend texted me, since she?s on a renfair like event right now ?Why is everyone making autism jokes? Was there something on the news?? and that?s where it probably takes of. Especially considering it?s weekend, it was in the newspaper this morning, so it should hit major news outlets later today.
A final note; I?ve used the word retarded every now and then, and even not to long ago in the shoutbox on this forum, a joking way to express my current wellbeing ?I feel retarded?. Does that make me sound like a hypocrite? In short yes? in long; no. The context was comedic relief (and please don?t amuse me how your concept of humor is different from mine, we all know this can be). A politician in media, talking politics is clearly not comedic relief (yet, the way they run things it might be). My expression wasn?t directed at someone besides myself. I can say I?m autistic, and if I?m black I don?t think anyone would object if I would classify myself as the N-word. It?s when other people label you that, that?s where it?s a sensitive issue.
There have been many blogs, articles, videos and the like about it online and I?m one in so many. But here?s the issue.
Is ?autistic? as an insult becoming the new ?retarded?? Or the new N-word, in terms of taboo.
It has been a trend up and coming where people use ?autistic? as a derogatory term to insult someone. It happens in online gaming, it happened on twitter a while ago (by rapper 50 cent), apparently it even popped up in a rap song and today? I have to read about it, how it happens in dutch politics. Wait? what?! Let?s dissect that.
Calling.someone.autistic.as.a.way.to.insult.someone.happened.in.dutch.politics.
Anyone halfway familiar with Holland, Dutch politics and certain prominent figures right now, might have heard or seen Geert Wilders before. The good sir had some issues to enter Australia since the aussie government wasn?t too thrilled about his right wing ideologies. And I guess that?s fair enough. We don?t need extreme left or rightwing anywhere IMO? emphasis on the M of MY.
So what happened was that he did an interview for De Telegraaf (a national newspaper, which is quite a sensationalist newspaper, yet not as extreme as some of the British ones I?ve read in the past) and he ended up calling our Prime minister ?Pollitically autistic?. And while I can fully understand the context, I?m not sure if he used the right noun to go with his adverb (he could?ve used incompetent, since that?s clearly what he meant).
There is a taboo about calling someone out and retarded, by means of an insult, just like there?s a few other words. The N-word, the C-word? perhaps retarded is known as the R-word in some groups even.
The problem here however is; autism doesn?t have a good public relations department. People don?t know what it is. And a lot of people don?t care too much about their use of everyday lingo. But I wouldn?t be surprised if the less well informed folks would start using this word interchangeably as ?moron?, ?idiot?, ?imbecile?? and I?m not sure if it?s fair to label someone with, what in essence is a medical term because the general populous thinks it?s the same thing. We all know it?s not. And if I put it against a definition of retardation; to qualify to be a retard in the medical sense? in a way, that definition is more clear cut, to say the least. And I don?t want to discredit any people labeled with retardation, but from my understanding, the diagnostics for that are less of a grey area.
This problem further culminates, and this is how I actually found out about this outing by said politician. My girlfriend texted me, since she?s on a renfair like event right now ?Why is everyone making autism jokes? Was there something on the news?? and that?s where it probably takes of. Especially considering it?s weekend, it was in the newspaper this morning, so it should hit major news outlets later today.
A final note; I?ve used the word retarded every now and then, and even not to long ago in the shoutbox on this forum, a joking way to express my current wellbeing ?I feel retarded?. Does that make me sound like a hypocrite? In short yes? in long; no. The context was comedic relief (and please don?t amuse me how your concept of humor is different from mine, we all know this can be). A politician in media, talking politics is clearly not comedic relief (yet, the way they run things it might be). My expression wasn?t directed at someone besides myself. I can say I?m autistic, and if I?m black I don?t think anyone would object if I would classify myself as the N-word. It?s when other people label you that, that?s where it?s a sensitive issue.
