I’m starting to suspect all of the words we use as pejorative nouns for people are problematic. New one today: cretin.
Apparently, it actually was the term used for a person with disabilities caused by lymph node disorders and insufficient iodine (that’s why we have iodized salt!). But yeah, it was mainly folks with intellectual and physical disabilities, with some having visible deformaties….so going to toss that one from my vocabulary.
I also have mixed feelings about the terms “idiot” and “moron” too, as they have a similar origin as literal diagnoses of intellectual disabilities.
Maybe there’s something inherently problematic in replacing a person’s humanity with an insulting noun? 😅
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Jasmine
In response to this post@JoscelynTransient i tend to either reach for something like "poophead" or "shit", or I'll say they have an ugly soul or a disgusting heart or similar. it's pretty easy to insult people without reaching for ableism, I think. just don't make it about intelligence or the body. (and "disgusting heart" isn't literally about their heart, but about their character, and that's often where the problem is, right?)
oh and I think "ignorant" (adjective or noun) is non-ableist too as far as I know.
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