The Importance Of Politically Correct

Bauer begins this essay by presenting her emotional connection to her argument by utilizing her daughter as the primary example. She utilizes imagery as she describes her daughters mortified reaction of devastation when a group of pre-teen girls laugh and call her "retard". The story of Bauer's daughter, who displays symptoms of Down Syndrome that altered her appearance, is the central idea throughout her essay. She explains how the use of the word "retard" is insensitive and demeaning. Bauer argues that the word "heaps scorn" on other individuals particularly those with developmental disabilities and for this reason Bauer believes the word "retard" should be abolished from the English language.

Many people may say one is a retard without knowing the truth behind the actual word. Intellectual Disability, also known as Mental Retardation, is a very serious psychological disorder that few are faced with for life. Intellectual Disability is characterized by a below-average level of intelligence (a mental ability) that lacks skills necessary for daily living. An IQ is the standard way to measure the level of intelligence one may have. Roughly 95% of humans have the IQ between 70 and 130. (Meyers and DeWall, 2014). The other five percent are either absolute genius or intellectually disabled. Being intellectually disabled can be caused in many ways

Bauer’s argument is based on emotion which makes it hard for the reader to follow. It is solely an emotional essay. The writer seems to have a very personal stance on the subject. She has raised a daughter with Down syndrome and she has tried so hard to shelter her from the hurtful word “retard.” Emotional essays provide no new ways of looking at the problem. Bauer’s argument was mostly a lot of finger pointing at the movie industry and their lack of compassion when using the word “retard.” Furthermore, the writer expresses society’s lack of compassion for the intellectually disabled community. The writer demonstrates examples of people’s use of this word as a means for expressing careless acts. Bauer states, “A clerk in a store apologizes for being "such a retard" when she can't find an item for me. Ouch. Kids at the mall call one another "you big retard." Ouch. A friend tells a long, involved story at my dinner table about her recent fender bender, with a punch line about "some retard" who parked behind her” (119). Bauer does not argue either of these points but just expresses her feeling about

Many people make assumptions on what a mental disability is, but simply, a mental disability is a disorder that affects one’s moods, thoughts, and behavior. It doesn't care about race, gender, religion, age, or wealth. Yet, so many of the

The essay, “A Movie, a Word, and My Family’s Battle”, by Patricia E. Bauer former reporter for the Washington post, effectively argues that the use of the term retard has become desensitized within American society. Bauer maintains an overall strong individual bias, a unique voice, and a powerful family story that intends to fully capture the attention of the reader and invites them to view her perspective. By utilizing both a personal narrative and movie example Bauer primarily targets a supportive audience, by appealing to emotion.

“As his vacant eyes moved across the crowd of amused onlookers, he slowly mirrored their smiles and finally broke into an uncertain grin at the joke which he obviously did not understand. I felt sick inside as I looked at his dull, vacuous smile, the wide, bright eyes of a child, uncertain but eager to please. They were laughing at him because he was mentally retarded. And I had been laughing at him too. Suddenly, I was furious at myself and all those who were smirking at him. I jumped up and shouted, "Shut up! Leave him alone! It's not his fault he can't understand! He can't help what he is! But for God's sake ... he's still a human being!" The room grew silent. I cursed myself for losing control and creating a scene. I tried not to look at the boy as I paid my check and walked out without touching my food. I felt ashamed for both of us. How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility, who ­ would not take advantage of a man born without arms or legs or eyes-how such people think nothing of abusing a man born with low intelligence” (Keyes 185). It is beyond cruel to make fun of someone for their disability, especially when they are not able to understand what is going on. Having mental health issues is nothing to

But I don't care what you call me, so long as it isn’t ‘differently abled,’ which strikes me as pure verbal garbage designed, by it's ability to describe anyone, to describe no one” (Mairs).   The author discusses diction to present the idea of how political correctness harms language and the people being described by these politically correct words and phrases. She says that she is affected by the words “differently abled” in a negative way, since the phrase doesn’t effectively explain the impact of her

Mairs usage of euphemisms is to help portray how today’s society uses sugar-coating words to make themselves feel comfortable. Society sugarcoats the truth of words to make it easier for themselves. As Mairs describes those words as “word vomit” because it describes all and yet describes none. The world has taken these words and morphed them to make the topics easier to speak about. Making these topics a meaningless conversation for all. “Handicapped” (Mairs) has been the term used for many ailments but does not describe one. No one recognizes the words as a fight, that many could be suffering through. Society doesn’t have to fight for these many people, and yet they still put it down under a category. People, along with countries, are being described by labels in the hope it would be less offensive. Through “I AM a Cripple” Nancy Mairs herself as a cripple, only to be called ‘verbal garbage’. She finds this offensive as people in today’s society have turned

The word retarded hurts people so much that it makes them feel different from others. People who have a mental illness start to believe that they are below the average human and that they are not the same as others. The word is so offensive that it starts separating these people from the society. On top of that, in relation to this negative meaning, people as such will be ultimately feeling labbeled. Just like the Jewish people during the Holocaust, these people will be looked as differently, when in the end, we are all humans. This one word can ruin someone’s life which is why it should not be used. The word “retarded” is one of the many reasons why segregation still exists today; it separates innocent people for no reason.

Shunning and ignoring mental health patients comes under the umbrella of stigmatization. Recent interpretations of the term stigma have become somewhat confused and, at times, blur with those of social exclusion and discrimination (Jorm & Oh, 2009). To attempt to clarify the meaning of stigma, Goffman's seminal work is very useful. Goffman's (1963) monograph contributes to the potential lack of clarity by stating that stigma involves a combination of personal attributes and social stereotypes related to societal access to and endorsement of well-known "unacceptable" or "inferior" human characteristics. Technically therefore, a person may not be mentally ill, but others may attribute this condition to her or him, draw on entrenched stereotypes, and interact with the person in a manner arising from the observers'

Political correct language limits the use of offensive terms that promote conscious thinking about how people stereotype one another. Politically incorrect language is demanding to many racial groups such as Native Americans who are mocked through the Washington “Redskins”. Those with special needs have also been affected by politically incorrectness because they feel out of place when being referred to as “mentally retarded.” This process is called the Euphemism Treadmill cycle. Euphemism Treadmill is a process that describes the cycle of discarded dysphemisms, used as a “word replacement strategy”. In order for America to stay the “greatest nation” we must eliminate political incorrectness in our everyday society.

This population is vulnerable because people use their actions and statements as a mockery. We hosted an event to bring awareness to Barry University on the “R” word; which is retarded, many people was shocked that it was offensive and pledged to never use it again. There are no nicer or easier way of using gestures and statements that are offensive to one but not to another. Dr. King stated “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King, 1963, p.1). I have noticed time after time that individauls would use statements freely such as “you’re retarded” and “you’re mentally challenged” as if it was cool to do so. Not knowing that all over the world are special needs individuals who would love to be normal but cannot. Special

"Mental Retardation"was a medical diagnosis used to describe people with "Intellectual Disability" Until Congress voted to change it on September 3 of 2013 to the above mentioned "intellectual Disability." "The R Slur" has become a synonym for stupid as well as other negative connotations. Phrase include "That's so retarded" "You're such a retard."Many people with an Intellectual Disability or family members of someone with I an Intellectual Disability have expressed discomfort at this. Describing it as "demeaning and insulting." Special Olympic Messenger, John Franklin Stephans argued in an article he wrote about "The R Slur." "I get the irony that only dumb and shallow people are using a term that mean dumb and shallow. The problem is,

Yet despite the discrimination these beliefs cause, they are traditions and are engrained into the minds off all Chinese people who are not disabled. Helen McCabe writes, in "Parent Advocacy in the Face of Adversity: Autism and Families in the People's Republic of China", about the lives of autistic children and their families, as well as the educational and life struggles both the parents and children face because of genetics. She adds even more discriminatory labels onto the points Walden discusses, arguing that many people refer to autistic children as “children with mental retardation” (McCabe). Disabled people are merely handicapped and may not be as capable of as many things as a lot of people are. Calling this particular group mentally retarded only adds to the challenges imposed on autistic individuals. While many people are working towards better living situations for autistic children, categorizing them into this very offensive phrase harms them rather than helps them. The people who say mentally

This week’s discussion dealt with Individuals and Disabilities. Over the years, people who have a “disability" have been subjected to prejudice and more. And the first way to diminish someone is through language, by using words or labels to identify a person as "less-than," as "the others—not like us," and so forth. Once a person has been identified this way, it makes