I’m not a Rogan fan, and don’t agree with him on almost anything.
However, I’m a few years younger than him, and grew up with the word as an insult, the same as him. This was back when the absolute worst insults you could call a dude was the “F” bomb, and a girl the “C” bomb. The “R” bomb was fairly tame. It was a mild insult between friends, like “idiot,” “dumbass,” or “asshole.”
So, I really don’t have a problem with it, EXCEPT when it’s used to hatefully mock an actual retarded person, THEN it’s a different story. A furious different story. I had an older uncle who was severely retarded, and a girlfriend whose sister who was, also.
And yes, I know times change, and yes, “If it was about somebody you cared about…” I get it. It still doesn’t bother me unless it’s to harm someone actually that way. And yes, I realize he’s stated what he stated to get attention. Fuck him.
I also have no real dog in the fight, I grew up with the word being slung around with casual ease, and honestly it still is in most places, despite a lot of what the sensitive younger generation might be seeing in their own spaces, the culture between “average people” would seem highly problematic to most activist-minded individuals.
I have curbed my use, but I’m not going to attack people who say it to criticize power or insult someone who truly deserves it. This is one of those lefty “purity tests” that I can’t connect with fully, so I know average moderates will be wildly pushed away from this kind of mindless scolding, so I also don’t make it an issue. I literally do not care.
Now all that said, I think we need to collectively LAY WASTE to Rogan and all he stands for. His delight in being able to say a slur again is the most crass, stupid, R-word statement that he’s made yet, and he deserves to suffer as much as the people with intellectual disabilities who are going to be bullied and harmed because of his cavalier and inept attitude towards language and logic.
Guys, it’s okay to not be totally consistent. It’s okay to condemn Rogan for saying this and you aren’t going to be judged. Seriously, get on that soap box and knock this ape down a peg.
I grew up in the same culture acceptance of these terms, but I’ve grown to think of it like this. If I wouldn’t say it to the group of people it’s describing, using it to describe other people carries the same meaning.
You can’t separate the term from the group of people it’s offending. So using it as an insult reinforces it’s meaning and acknowledging why it’s offensive. So it’s equally wrong.
It’s the same reason I don’t say the n-word or why I wouldn’t use the derogatory terms used for trans people even in a joke.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I don’t say it anymore, and I don’t use the “N” bomb, or the “F” bomb. I despise those people. I go out of my way to treat everyone with kindness and respect, until they prove they don’t deserve it. I’m just sarcastic sometimes. I’m just saying I’ve been hardened to that language, but I don’t like it, and I don’t use it, and I don’t associate with people who do.
My father was a rabid, irrational, to the point of mental illness racist, homophobe, misogynist, you name it. Everything that went wrong in his life was someone else’s fault. The man couldn’t have a 5 minute conversation without saying the “N” word. It wouldn’t surprise me if I learned he was in the Klan, but he’s been dead 13 years. This is because he was a malignant narcissist, who couldn’t admit fault. A person that I hated most of my life, so I fortunately wasn’t indoctrinated into the Cult of Hate.
I’m not a Rogan fan, and don’t agree with him on almost anything.
However, I’m a few years younger than him, and grew up with the word as an insult, the same as him. This was back when the absolute worst insults you could call a dude was the “F” bomb, and a girl the “C” bomb. The “R” bomb was fairly tame. It was a mild insult between friends, like “idiot,” “dumbass,” or “asshole.”
So, I really don’t have a problem with it, EXCEPT when it’s used to hatefully mock an actual retarded person, THEN it’s a different story. A furious different story. I had an older uncle who was severely retarded, and a girlfriend whose sister who was, also.
And yes, I know times change, and yes, “If it was about somebody you cared about…” I get it. It still doesn’t bother me unless it’s to harm someone actually that way. And yes, I realize he’s stated what he stated to get attention. Fuck him.
I also have no real dog in the fight, I grew up with the word being slung around with casual ease, and honestly it still is in most places, despite a lot of what the sensitive younger generation might be seeing in their own spaces, the culture between “average people” would seem highly problematic to most activist-minded individuals.
I have curbed my use, but I’m not going to attack people who say it to criticize power or insult someone who truly deserves it. This is one of those lefty “purity tests” that I can’t connect with fully, so I know average moderates will be wildly pushed away from this kind of mindless scolding, so I also don’t make it an issue. I literally do not care.
Now all that said, I think we need to collectively LAY WASTE to Rogan and all he stands for. His delight in being able to say a slur again is the most crass, stupid, R-word statement that he’s made yet, and he deserves to suffer as much as the people with intellectual disabilities who are going to be bullied and harmed because of his cavalier and inept attitude towards language and logic.
Guys, it’s okay to not be totally consistent. It’s okay to condemn Rogan for saying this and you aren’t going to be judged. Seriously, get on that soap box and knock this ape down a peg.
I grew up in the same culture acceptance of these terms, but I’ve grown to think of it like this. If I wouldn’t say it to the group of people it’s describing, using it to describe other people carries the same meaning.
You can’t separate the term from the group of people it’s offending. So using it as an insult reinforces it’s meaning and acknowledging why it’s offensive. So it’s equally wrong.
It’s the same reason I don’t say the n-word or why I wouldn’t use the derogatory terms used for trans people even in a joke.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I don’t say it anymore, and I don’t use the “N” bomb, or the “F” bomb. I despise those people. I go out of my way to treat everyone with kindness and respect, until they prove they don’t deserve it. I’m just sarcastic sometimes. I’m just saying I’ve been hardened to that language, but I don’t like it, and I don’t use it, and I don’t associate with people who do.
My father was a rabid, irrational, to the point of mental illness racist, homophobe, misogynist, you name it. Everything that went wrong in his life was someone else’s fault. The man couldn’t have a 5 minute conversation without saying the “N” word. It wouldn’t surprise me if I learned he was in the Klan, but he’s been dead 13 years. This is because he was a malignant narcissist, who couldn’t admit fault. A person that I hated most of my life, so I fortunately wasn’t indoctrinated into the Cult of Hate.