wmst 490 final: reclaiming words

1. Reclaiming Words
Madison Olive

2. QUESTIONS
• How do we, as people, learn that words can
be “bad”?
• How does the reception of bad words vary
based on different gender identities?
• Why do words have such an impact on us?
• Can words, such as “bitch” and “slut” be
reclaimed? Or will bad words always be bad?

3. “BAD WORDS”
• “Slurs are, in general, considered emotionally
charged derogatory terms that target certain
group members on the basis of a despcriptive
feature such as their race or sex.”
- How To Do Things With Slurs, 2013

4. WHERE DO WE LEARN THEM?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_t-arkQO7k

5. NEGATIVE TIES TO WORDS
• “… And still modern puritans, perhaps not yet
ready to deal with the frightening prospect of
truly free sexual and romantic choice, attempt
to enforce the nuclear family and
monogamous marriage by teaching sexual
shame.”
- The Ethical Slut: 2nd Edition, 2009

6. RECEPTION BASED ON GENDER:
FEMALE
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9qsdK61
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7. RECEPTION BASED ON GENDER:
MALE
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fehR4BfU
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8. WHY THEY MATTER TO US
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDYcgP0l
32Q

9. WHY THEY MATTER TO US
• From a young age, we are taught that we
should not say “bad” words and we should
not call people names that would offend them
• “Respect and positive face have even been
characterized as a kind of social currency or
“social capital.” As it is the case with money,
you can get more things done with the more
respect and positive face you have.”
- How To Do Things With Slurs, 2013

10. WHY THEY MATTER TO US
• At the heart of the code [of the street] is the
issue of respect – loosely defined as being treated
“right”… In the street culture, especially among
young people, respect is viewed as almost an
external entity, one that is hard-won but easily
lost – and so must constantly be guarded. The
rules of the code [of the street] in fact provide a
framework for negotiating respect…
- Code of the Street, 1999

11. RECLAIMING WORDS: WHY?
• By giving “bad” words power, our culture is
manifesting and enforcing social barriers
based on race, class and gender
• “When we judge ourselves by cultural values
imposed from the outside… This is internalized
oppression”
- The Ethical Slut: 2nd Edition, 2009

12. CAN WORDS REALLY BE RECLAIMED?
• “You will probably find some of these
judgments in your own brain, burrowed in
deeper than you ever realized. We believe
that they say a lot more about the culture that
promotes them than they do about any actual
person, including you.”
- The Ethical Slut: 2nd Edition, 2009

13. CAN WORDS REALLY BE RECLAIMED?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsK0AKJ
hn0g

14. CAN WORDS REALLY BE RECLAIMED?
• “Feminist language reform consists of
eliminating the gender bias found in the
structure, content, and usage of language and
providing linguistic alternatives such as novel
expressions, phrases, grammatical forms and
word coinage”
- Handbook of the Psychology of Women and
Gender, 2004

15. CAN WORDS REALLY BE RECLAIMED?
• Can we eliminate the gender bias in language?
• Can we undo generations of social barriers
embedded into our youth?
• Once a word is reclaimed, what purpose will it
serve?