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Post by no1novice on Aug 3, 2022 1:50:21 GMT
i probably wasn't aware enough to realize spaz was so derogatory, but now we are learning the importance of language and being clear with our message and intent. i think most of us are learning. and that's why lizzo's retraction was significant. Agreed and also why Beyonce /her team playing for clicks with this is so heinous. Now way they didn't know and they saw the coverage that Lizzo got & are trying to get some of that free PR. |
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Post by mrsfawlty on Aug 3, 2022 11:52:07 GMT
Here, in the UK, the word is considered to be deeply offensive towards any person with a disability, although it was an accepted medical term up until recent times. It's definitely been that way since I was a child, because I remember my mother warning me never to use the word, given that our neighbour's daugher had Cerebral Palsy. I don't think it was really the same here. In 1979, in the Bill Murray hit movie "Meatballs" there was a character named "Spaz". There was also a recurring sketch on the first decade of SNL where Steve Martin played "Chas the Spaz". There's also a legendary Hollywood CGI animator (lead on the first "Jurassic Park") who goes by Steve "Spaz" Williams. And now there is a 2022 documentary titled after this nickname. I also think that half of Americans wouldn't even be able to define the word "ableist". I believe that using of the word 'spaz/spastic' is only deemed offensive in the UK/Europe. I could be wrong! I'm sure that language differences, much like gestures, can be very difficult to navigate in different parts of the world. It doesn't necessarily mean that any offence is meant but how we respond when it's pointed out is the important part. Lizzo, bless her, apologised. |
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Post by funky on Aug 3, 2022 12:33:03 GMT
It's even deemed offensive in German speaking countries, go figure
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Post by notoriousmkg on Aug 3, 2022 17:09:05 GMT
I don't think it was really the same here. In 1979, in the Bill Murray hit movie "Meatballs" there was a character named "Spaz". There was also a recurring sketch on the first decade of SNL where Steve Martin played "Chas the Spaz". There's also a legendary Hollywood CGI animator (lead on the first "Jurassic Park") who goes by Steve "Spaz" Williams. And now there is a 2022 documentary titled after this nickname. I also think that half of Americans wouldn't even be able to define the word "ableist". I believe that using of the word 'spaz/spastic' is only deemed offensive in the UK/Europe. I could be wrong! I'm sure that language differences, much like gestures, can be very difficult to navigate in different parts of the world. It doesn't necessarily mean that any offence is meant but how we respond when it's pointed out is the important part. Lizzo, bless her, apologised. It reminds me a little bit of the pejorative "Paki", which I had never even heard of in the US, but I do know is a major insult because of reading British news stories. |
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Post by no1novice on Aug 3, 2022 17:32:10 GMT
I believe that using of the word 'spaz/spastic' is only deemed offensive in the UK/Europe. I could be wrong! I'm sure that language differences, much like gestures, can be very difficult to navigate in different parts of the world. It doesn't necessarily mean that any offence is meant but how we respond when it's pointed out is the important part. Lizzo, bless her, apologised. It reminds me a little bit of the pejorative "Paki", which I had never even heard of in the US, but I do know is a major insult because of reading British news stories. Yes because the National Front (neo-nazis) used it. |
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Post by waterslide on Aug 3, 2022 18:02:07 GMT
i probably wasn't aware enough to realize spaz was so derogatory, but now we are learning the importance of language and being clear with our message and intent. i think most of us are learning. and that's why lizzo's retraction was significant. Agreed and also why Beyonce /her team playing for clicks with this is so heinous. Now way they didn't know and they saw the coverage that Lizzo got & are trying to get some of that free PR. This. It makes me ill. I don't think it was really the same here. In 1979, in the Bill Murray hit movie "Meatballs" there was a character named "Spaz". There was also a recurring sketch on the first decade of SNL where Steve Martin played "Chas the Spaz". There's also a legendary Hollywood CGI animator (lead on the first "Jurassic Park") who goes by Steve "Spaz" Williams. And now there is a 2022 documentary titled after this nickname. I also think that half of Americans wouldn't even be able to define the word "ableist". I believe that using of the word 'spaz/spastic' is only deemed offensive in the UK/Europe. I could be wrong! I'm sure that language differences, much like gestures, can be very difficult to navigate in different parts of the world. It doesn't necessarily mean that any offence is meant but how we respond when it's pointed out is the important part. Lizzo, bless her, apologised. It is now being recognized as offensive in the US (and rightly so) on a broad scale, but the true meaning behind it has been subverted over the past 60 or so years in the US, so to us it's just slang for clumsy or fidgety. It's probably been used in place of the r-word. I'm not sure how offensive it is in Canada, though. I never consciously heard the p-word until I saw it in a movie, maybe Bend It Like Beckham, and it just sounded ugly and derogatory. Also the w-word. I'm not sure what the going consensus is on the g-word describing people of Romani descent, but it also has a different connotation in the US and I know people who self-identify as such and don't have a problem with the word, so I dunno. |
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no
Full Member
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Post by no on Aug 3, 2022 21:23:51 GMT
It's even deemed offensive in German speaking countries, go figure I believe in Australia as well. |
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Post by kittylady on Aug 4, 2022 0:41:45 GMT
waterslide for the "w-word" do you mean the one that rhymes with "frog"? That is considered seriously, seriously offensive in the UK. It has been a very long time since I last heard someone use it and that was from some nasty old coffin dodger.
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Post by waterslide on Aug 4, 2022 0:53:53 GMT
waterslide for the "w-word" do you mean the one that rhymes with "frog"? That is considered seriously, seriously offensive in the UK. It has been a very long time since I last heard someone use it and that was from some nasty old coffin dodger. Yes, that's the word. I realized it looks like I was saying I didn't know if it was considered offensive, but what I meant to say was that I'd never heard that term until I was an adult. (I don't know if I was making sense or not.) I don't think it has any meaning in the US, but maybe it does. I've never heard anyone use it. But yeah, I know that one is really bad. I'm glad it's falling out of use. |
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