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this is dangerously close to slur discourse but it's been on my mind lately since i feel like i see a lot of people say slurs (specifically lgbt ones) simply because they *can* rather than doing it out of any sort of reclamation. all it really feels like is an excuse to be edgy.
personally speaking, i know i've definitely been at least implicitly encouraged to use the slurs that i'm ""allowed"" to say, but i've barely actually been the target of any of it (except somewhat online) so who am i actually reclaiming it from? myself, when i was 12-16 and dumb?
i know that isn't an experience unique to me either. earlier today even, i saw someone asking if they were allowed to say x slur or not because y along with someone else in the replies saying that they were "supposed" [sic] to say that slur, despite never being called it once.
there's people i know who throw slurs around all willy-nilly, and for what? just because they can? this isn't a subtweet or anything, but is having a slur be a punchline to a joke now Cool just because you can say it now without reprehension, even if that's the same bigoted joke?
i don't mean to say that you can't crack jokes about an aspect of your own identity, but i think slurs are unique in that many people are directly made uncomfortable by them even if they're "allowed" to reclaim it, so what's the point? lot of slurs are just really ugly words too.
similarly, i think it kinda fosters a negative mindset in that these words are deeply hateful so unless you get a strong sense of empowerment from them, it just kind of promotes an abrasiveness that very well may be offputting to others. it's good to be mindful of appearances imo
