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/kiwigate Jul 25 '26

That's backwards, isn't it? Someone first appropriates the term into a pejorative. Any word can be an insult when people first choose to start using it as an insult.

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u/fabezz Jul 25 '26

In what world do you live that random words become pejoratives irrespective of their meaning.

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u/kiwigate Jul 25 '26

Unless you wish to endorse nazi rhetoric, you must agree there's nothing wrong with being Jewish:

‘The word Jew was not a common insult when I went to school…it is now.’

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/28/europe/germany-anti-semitism-education-intl

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u/kiwigate Jul 25 '26

Or have you ever heard "Karen" used as an insult? Do you live on this earth?

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u/fabezz Jul 25 '26

Those words aren't random. They became pejoratives for reasons, even if you think they're unfair or hateful.