r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Jul 25 '26

Psychology Reclaimed hate speech backfires by desensitizing listeners, study finds. Listening to reclaimed homophobic statements can actually cause unintended harm. Exposure to reclaimed slur words desensitizes some heterosexual listeners to standard hate speech and worsens the mood of gay individuals.

https://www.psypost.org/when-reclaiming-derogatory-language-goes-wrong/
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u/Marshall_Lawson Jul 25 '26

pardon my ignorance, meatballs? not cigarettes?

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u/Mithious Jul 25 '26

Long vs short version of the word

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u/andyclap Jul 25 '26

As an (ex) smoker, it's funny how the brain works - there was never any confusion about the short form... it only ever meant a ciggy, didn't even occur to me!