In recent years, quite a lot of effort has been put into making sure that terms used to refer to certain groups of people – particularly those who are part of marginalised or stigmatised minorities – are not offensive. This is obviously to be applauded. Language matters and hearing yourself referred to with a derogatory term is hurtful and undermines self-worth. Equally when people grow up hearing certain groups referred to with derogatory terms, this is more likely to create a feeling that these groups are in fact inferior in some sense and that it is okay to insult them. This can do a lot of long-term harm. However, the thinking seems to be that if we just change the term used, that will lead to improvement and this is short-sighted.
As an example, you may have noticed that every five to ten years a new word is launched to describe people with an intellectual disability. Each time the word used to date is reviled as undignified, demeaning, and offensive and the new term is hailed as much more respectful and politically correct. Yet five to ten years later, the same thing happens again and what was the much more respectful word is reviled as offensive now. Why is this?
Essentially, this is down to the social attitudes with regard to the people that the word refers to. The offensiveness is not in the word, but in how it is used. Whatever term is used to refer to people with intellectual disabilities will very quickly be adopted as an insult, used to hurl at people with the intention of humiliating them. And once that has taken hold and happens widely, the term becomes offensive, because it is used as an insult so much. It literally does not matter what word you use to describe this group, under the current circumstances it will be turned into an insult inevitably and very quickly.
The example is of persons with intellectual disabilities, but it applies to all marginalised and stigmatised groups. There is a certain naivety in thinking that just changing the words you use will make a significant difference. Or maybe it is not so much naivety as an unwillingness to look closer at what would be needed to make a real change. Because to do so would be to discover a very big job and an uphill battle.
If people who are so eager to make sure a more politically correct term is used and so condemning when someone slips up or hasn’t been made aware of the latest change yet were really committed to bringing about change and ensuring that people from marginalised and stigmatised groups are treated respectfully, they would have to start major campaigns to raise awareness, break down stigmas and change social attitudes towards them. Too many people throw up their hands and sigh that it cannot be done. That is not true. Behavioural change communication campaigns have been shown to be very effective and to have a strong ripple effect. It is hard and a lot of work. It requires commitment and resources. It requires capacity building and media presence. And it is an enormous push, requiring many, to get the huge boulder of social attitude to move at all, at the start. But once it starts to move, it gets easier, and after a while, it rolls down the hill on its own.
Efforts have to be made to raise this kind of awareness and to bring about a change in social attitudes towards marginalised and stigmatised groups. Without that, the language changes every few years are completely meaningless. And without it care reform is much more challenging than it needs to be, because communities refuse to accept children with some kind of stigma if attitudes are not changed. So let’s start pushing together and get some movement into the boulder of breaking down the stigmas.
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