Every now and then I need to remind myself of this simple truth:
<Censored version>Don’t argue on the internet; it’s stupid.</Censored version>
PS - This remark is not intended to any insult any people who may actually be stupid.
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18 Comments
this is funny and i know it’s hyperbole but i’m pretty disappointed in this post.
Why?
i hate it
you seriously see no problem with making fun of “retards”? i understand that the joke is making fun of people that argue on the internet, but it first belittles the mentally handicapped. then there’s use of colloquialism “retarded.” on top of that, belittling an amazing organization like the special olympics is just plain wrong. so it’s basically horribly offensive on at least 3 levels.
i know it’s odd that i become offended by something, but i consider taking pot shots at people because of the way they’re born pretty off limits. you might as well use the n-word.
Well, I don’t perceive this as belittling the handicapped, the special olympics, or taking pot shots at anyone because of the way they’re born, but since I’ve received nothing but negative reaction from it, I have been considering taking that image off. Maybe I will.
I guess just keep that in mind though, the next time you make any kind of joke whatsoever - it’s probably making fun of someone to some degree. Historically in our culture, the use of the term “reatarded” in a joking context is totally, completely different (at least in my mind) than racial epithets, but at the same time I’m not saying that should necessarily excuse it or that people aren’t right to be offended. My apologies to anyone who was.
I completely agree with Nathan on this, even to the point of the term being equally offensive as the N word. Just because “retarded” isn’t represented as a horrible term like the “n word” is. It does not mean it’s an acceptable term; ESPECIALLY if you are describing whom the word is meant to offend.
In a joking matter: while I can joke that [person x] is acting like a retard, I would NEVER call a mental impaired person a retard. And I’d assume you wouldn’t have posted a picture of black, asian, white, mexican, jew or any other race with his/her racial slur in order to make a joke.
Thanks for taking this down. I saw this a while back and I “hated” it too. Now, explain how this could ever be funny? or acceptable? Or maybe not…
So there’s no confusion, “Now, explain how this could ever be funny? or acceptable? Or maybe not…” meant to mock the subject because I do NOT want to “argue” this subject, I’ve typed my points and hopefully they’re clear.
Look, I already said that it was probably a bad idea for me to post it, and that’s why I took it down. People who know me know I do not discriminate against people with disabilities, but I did realize that not everyone who reads this blog knows me that well, so better to be safe than sorry. Also, since even some who do know me obviously took it in a bad way, I wouldn’t want to leave it up.
HOWEVER, I strongly, STRONGLY disagree with the assertion that the term “retarded” is just as bad as the N word or any other purely derogatory term. The primary reason is that it has a normal, scientific, non-pejorative meaning which is a simple description of a medical condition, whereas words like “nigger” traditionally have no other context or meaning outside of a racist insult (although even that is obviously changing in certain sub-cultures - not that I’m a fan of that trend).
In addition, the term actually describes a real life problem or issue that some people face, so to use it in the context of a joke to suggest that certain people (in this case, those who engage in lengthy internet arguments) suffer from some sort of mental impairment is SIGNIFICANTLY different than using something like race (which has no inherent negative connotation outside of hateful prejudice). Using any term in the context of a comparative insult means that you are, to some extent, buying into that negative association, but I don’t think anyone would argue that mental retardation is not a real life negative thing, whereas there is nothing negative about one’s race at all, so the association implying that there is is the problem.
The point is I realize that in spite of that, it’s still in bad taste to joke about it, and for that I have apologized. Hopefully that’s enough.
PS - Nathan, I’m glad we’ve both learned our lesson on this particular word; I guess it just took me a bit longer than you.
Good thing I didn’t use the word “retard” then, huh? See the wikipedia link I posted above that references “mentally retarded” as a scientific phrase that has gradually taken on a derogatory meaning in common cultural use, similar to the word “gay”.
I believe that the way it was used in the picture I posted (not authored, BTW) was as a reference to the scientific / medical condition, and hyperbolically comparing the mental state of someone who is behaving foolishly with someone who has a legitimate medical condition affecting their mental capacity.
Imagine if you were looking for something right in front of your face, and I queried “what, are you blind?”, or if you were having trouble hearing something I was saying and I asked “what, are you deaf?”. Such jabs at you (an obviously non-blind, non-deaf person) neither implicitly contain nor imply ill feelings or discrimination towards people who actually do suffer from the medical conditions of blindness and/or deafness. Get it?
the message of the image you posted is clear to everyone who has commented so far and stands in stark contrast to the “what, are you blind?” scenario: no matter what accomplishments a mentally handicapped person makes, (s)he will have a lesser net value as a human being due to their handicap.
i’m sorry i used the word in a completely different context almost a year ago. i called you on this because i consider you to be “above” this kind of humor and respect you for it. please stop trying to defend it and just say sorry.
It’s a matter of interpretation, and I interpreted it to be as I have described; which does not imply that mentally handicapped people have a lesser value as human beings (I’m not sure where you’re getting that from); that’s pretty clear from my comments. Sorry you took it that way.
I have also apologized already because I realized that a lot of people did interpret it that way, and I therefore took it down. I will stand by my position that it was not intended that way, and by my apology for posting something that could be easily misinterpreted as it obviously has been.
Thinking about the image itself (not this post) and it’s rather ironic. It leads me to believe it’s meant to be loaded and disruptive to cause arguing even if it’s primary goal is to prevent internet arguing.
sorry i missed your previous apology. that’ll larn me for skimming.
dan- we’re such suckers playing right into jared’s evil plan.
Ah ha!
I’m not sure what was said, but I’m guessing it was similar to, “Arguing on the internet is retarded.”
Would it have been better to say “Arguing on the internet is not an advanced form of communication.”? If it’s not “advanced”, it’s “retarded”. The words are antonyms.
The words “retarded” and “retard” both have legitimate uses. For example, “The cheap gas in my 73 Nova made the engine knock, so I had to retard the timing.”
What’s more insulting to the handicapped, a person who uses a word as it’s intended without slanderous intent, or a person who reads the word “retarded” or “retard” and only thinks of a mentally handicapped person?
Well, when it is accomapnied by a large picture of said type of person, it makes it difficult to not get that picture. I guess I was thinking from a mom’s point of view. If that was my kid in the picture, I’d be a little offended by it, unless she created the comic.