In my opinion, the use of the “R-word” in our society has become much less commonplace since the “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign began. For the most part, people understand that this is a word of the past and is currently considered a slur and offensive. Soon after that campaign started, an organization I was apart of at the time, had a speaker come in and talk about this campaign. She spoke about how the campaign is both about not using the words ourselves but also calling other people out to find a different word choice. Back in high school when I heard that, I was way too timid and uncomfortable asking others to find different word choice but, as I’ve gotten older, I find myself saying it a lot. I’ve come to realize that stopping the use of this word is important to me and sitting back while others, unknowingly or knowingly, use an offensive slur is not acceptable for me.
More recently, I’ve found myself noticing when people do not use person-first language to describe individuals with disabilities. I’ll hear people say things like “her autistic brother” or “his schizophrenic aunt” and other similar terms. Why are we describing other people first and primarily by their disability, rather than who they are as a person? By doing this, we are allowing disabilities to define so many people which is so unfair. So, when I hear these terms being thrown around, I often get annoyed but still let it go. A few times, I’ve made comments to people and they were surprisingly receptive to understanding what person-first language is and why we use it.
Just last semester, in one of my classes, I came across a reading that mentioned the casual use of mental illnesses in our society such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. The reading was talking about how we say “I have anxiety” when we’re just feeling anxious in that moment. By doing that, we take away the validity of these diagnoses from people who have them. So, I’ve been making a concerted effort to say I’m feeling a certain way rather than I have a certain diagnoses (I’ve come to realize this change is more difficult that I anticipated which goes to show how commonplace it is to give ourselves diagnoses in a sense). I’m very curious to know how people with these diagnoses feel about these words being slung around so casually.
Follow Us!