Hurt Words Research Paper

The old idiom, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” has been used for decades, and although a good sentiment, can be disproven by any person with an basic understanding of their feelings. The power of the words one hears can greatly affect their self esteem and confidence. The fact that words hurt is an issue everyone faces, but some words hold too much power, power that can be used in not so ideal ways. Slurs, or words that are used to oppress minority groups, are used too casually in the modern world, with grave consequences on the minorities they are used against. The word faggot, a term used to describe gay men, has become popular in modern America between school boys as a way to either mock their peers or intentionally hurt an actual queer person. This word in particular moves farther away from offensive and can be categorized as oppressive due to its both psychological and social ramifications. The use of the word faggot is an act of oppression when one looks at both the social and psychological effects the word has on both the user and the recipient of the slur.

Blaise Pascal once said: “Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much”. The same could be said for harmful words. One word could change someone's entire day, whether that be kind or harmful is all up to the speaker. Words can hurt and they can repair, but they can never be forgotten. Words are powerful and can be used numerous different ways. Words can dictate how we are perceived, they can be used to persuade, they can be used to evoke emotion, logical sense and credibility as well as how a person’s daily life plays out.

The ever-present issue of sports teams using offensive slurs as their names and mascots may soon be an issue no longer. Protests against the use of offensive terms are noticed more in the past few years. Sports have a long and brutal history of racism; most of the issues that were present have mostly dissipated, aside from the issue of offensive names and logos for the teams. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation released an Anti-Redskins ad during the NBA Finals to bring awareness to the racism behind the name Redskins. The ad shows multiple Native Americans and the names they describe and associate themselves. The video ends with the narrator saying, “Native Americans call themselves many things. The one they

Every time we go to the grocery store we are advertising tricks. For example, we can see some convincing words like all natural, a good source of vitamins, natural ingredients, healthy, organic, without antibiotics, hormones, cage-free, etc. These words are catchers of attention to consumers to believe they are getting something big, healthy and nutritious, but is it really that we get something good ourselves? What do all these words really mean?

Youth and beauty, everyone wants to stay young and beautiful forever. The words youth and beauty changes as you go around the world. Some cultures may find flawless skin beautiful and women under a certain age to be younger. In some African culture scars symbolize beauty, the more you have the more beautiful you are. There are so many pieces of art/sculpture that we have looked at in class and outside of class that has a lot of scars carved on

    If we are not aware of the words that come out of our mouths due to lack of thought or attention, we all suffer and we are all at fault: “When language dies, out of carelessness, disuse, indifference, and absence of esteem, or killed by fiat, . . . all users and makers are accountable for its demise” (Morrison 14-15).  The standards of society are changing and with them the

If we take a look at many of the misused and vile words we have today and how their meaning has changed over time a simple fact becomes obvious. These words were branded over time by society to appear vulgar. For example if we take the word nigger. At present it is horribly used as a racial slur towards coloured people. However it is a word that is accepted in intergroup usage. Another example is the word gay. In a different time this word was used to describe carefree or happy, but unfortunately by the 19th century the word had been developed into an unprecedented insult. My point is this episode of recess shows that a word is harmless. But like any weapon it can be transformed into something vile by its user. You could easily be shouting gibberish at a person, but the aggressive tone and volume of your words would still carry through the meaning to the

Scars mean different things to different people. There is usually always a story behind a scar. I am not talking about emotional and mental scars. This post is about scars on the skin.

It is time words are restructured most importantly, negative words to impact the world in a positive way. Changing historical definitions can help those who suffer from the burdens

On the other hand, it was argued that tough love should not be intended for teens because they are still learning the ways of life. However, if these young adults are still learning the ways of life, should the “adults” at try to stop them and correct them from the errors that they made? Therefore, in the future not only will they learn from their mistakes but better their chances of a brighter future. It was said by Jan Hunt, “to love a child means to treat him or her with respect, patience, gentleness and compassion.” However, if a child steps out of line, is it not the parent’s job to set boundaries and take control? Tough love was designed to help troubled teens realize that there is a better way of life and that their actions have a negative

People hurt people for many different reasons. They do it for personal reasons or just to do it. Hurting someone can come in many different ways from emotional or physical pain hurting someone doesn't just mean making fun of it has different sides.

Verbal ragging is characterized as a non-consensual discussion between the senior and rookie, where the senior mortifies the first year recruit, compels him to answer by and by/socially-unsatisfactory inquiries/subjects, teases/harrasses him/her, does a presentation of his/her prevalence driving over mental injury, uneasiness, distress for the

We all deal with rage and frustration in different ways, but sometimes that energy channeled inappropriately causes us to react out of character. The phrase "hurt people, hurt people" is a very true statement. I've had the unfortunate opportunity of coming into contact with numerous people who have struggled with different issues from mental problems, to severe depression and addiction to pornography all of which came about from tragic events from their past, making their daily life a challenge particularly in the areas of trusting and showing compassion. Although some of these individuals have attempted to put those events behind them, and may have even forgiven others involved with their experience, the effect of how they respond to certain

A single word can be used to belittle, hurt, and humiliate. One word can cause so much hurt to a person that they burst into tears or spiral down into a damaging hole that they can 't get out of for an extended amount of time. Throughout history, names have been used to keep a population in its place. Insults have been hurled to make a single person understand what another thinks of them. Words are used all the time to cause damage to a person or an entire peoples soul. One word can have a lot of power.

Words are words but they can be very harmful when not used correctly. How are people still using a finding was to use words as a racial issue? Racial words have been around for years and now it has been more of an issue from calling people names to having companies and organization changing their names because it’s offensive. We will be taking a look at about taking away the words would help the hate, we will also talk about the word race and how it’s the most public controversy word, and finally talk about how race is not just on the outside it’s within and from the past. We have a lot to go over so let’s move on to be first part of taking away the word Race.