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Sunday, 14 May 2017

Why Cripples would prefer you didn't say Cripple.


So first of all a little background about the word cripple. It was originally used as a derogatory word to describe anyone who has a physical disability. In recent years, those of us with physical disabilities have chosen to reclaim the word, in much the way people on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum are reclaiming words like queer. There are many words that were once used in derogatory way that are being reclaimed, and this is a good thing. It brings a positive meaning to a word that was once negative. It means that people can have a mutual identity, in a choice that they have made to use a word that was once used against them to now be used in a positive light.

There are still issues with reclaiming of course, and one particular thing that sticks out to me is physically able people using the word cripple to describe things that happen to them. For example, someone has an acute injury, and they say they “feel like a cripple.” This is of course generally intended negatively. Since I am someone who personally reclaims the word cripple to describe myself, it basically means you’ve just taken my identity and put into a negative light, and not only my identity but my entire life. I am a cripple regardless of whatever way you want to look at it, and I’m sure some people would be offended by my use of the word physically disabled or not, and if you use the word cripple in a negative sense it’s like you’re basically saying to me my entire life is negative. That’s not fair, I make the best of what I’ve got because I haven’t got much choice and in some ways being a cripple is a positive thing, I found many people like myself, with whom I have great friendships, it gives me the sense being part of a wider community of people like me as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t find it offensive when people refer to me as a cripple, because I know they’re referring to me as one because I refer to myself as one and they know it’s okay. It’s people that still use it as a negative term that upset me, in the same way a person who is LGBTQIA+ may be upset if someone yelled queer at them on the street, simply for holding hands with their partner. Now, if you saw me going down the road on my crutches, and you wouldn’t shout cripple at me to insult me, why are you still using the word in a derogatory sense? Why is it okay to use that word in a general sense but not to talk about a specific person? Hint: it isn’t.

If you wouldn’t use the word to insult someone specifically don’t use the word as a general insult. Peace out.

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