[DISCUSSION] on reclaiming slurs

[Enzonar]

I was digging a while back when I noticed a nation, PVRTUGAL, was deleted for some infraction, where I saw his moderation posts, but I noticed that in his posts, he was using the n word on the rmb, but not in a malicious or condescending way, but more like how it's used to address people, which is a main part of reclaiming slurs. I am aware slurs are against the osrs, but at the same time, he was using it in a way that seemed like he had the right to reclaim it.

I am autistic, and since the word "retard" is used against autists as a slur, I should be able to say it by reclaiming it, but I can't find a single instance where retard would be used in a positive or neutral way like some people do with the n-word. (Can a retard borrow a fry? How's a retard gonna give it back?) A thing I've seen alot in discussions are on how we can tell if someone can reclaim that slur. It would be weird for moderation to ask for people to send them a picture of their skin colour before letting them reclaim slurs, or send used pill bottles to max barrys house, so I think the best thing you can do is to trust people, and if they aren't using it in a flaming or defamatory/dehumanizing way, like, who cares? I am aware his infractions are on an rmb, which is >13, but I was curious about whether moderators could allow people to reclaim slurs, since I know that helps reduce how powerful and negative the word is, and the connotations around it, and spin it into a potentially positive thing.

This can be hard to moderate and some cases this can skew rulings, since obviously a ton of things can get mixed up, people can argue about what they mean and how they can't reclaim slurs, but I was wondering whether using reclaimed slurs in good faith would be allowed or not. Sorry for the huge post, but this has been a thing I've been ruminating about and has been itching me hard.

[UIJ]

I can tell you right now there’s not a chance in hell they’ll entertain this

“Reclaiming” slurs is not very conductive to a site like NS where we already have issues with what’s acceptable or not, there’s maybe a handful of times where these kinds of slurs could be “innocently used” compared to the vast number of times such words will be abused. It would be very hard to decide if ANY usage of slurs could be deemed in good faith, and would be a pointless addition to moderator work loads. If the ‘n-word’ becomes acceptable what other slurs are or aren’t acceptable? You’ll have to make a list of them because there’s 100% slurs that are by no means friendly or “innocent”. Either all of them are okay, or none are, and one of those is so much easier to enforce.
I also don’t think Max Berry or regular users want their site to promote itself as “slur friendly”, it would probably not make for very good PR.

[Juristonia]

I can't imagine the mod squad being in the mood to figure out who can or can't use which slur on a case by case basis.

"I can say the N word. I'm black. Have fun figuring out if I'm lying or not"

[Gaybeans]

I was once reported on referring to myself as a dyke. It did get considered as not actionable due to the whole lesbian thing but there is technically no way of knowing if I am truly gay (which would honestly be kinda funny, oh the user Gaybeans? She's cishet actually)

[Mossex]

My question now is what qualifications are needed for it to be a slur? Would Calling someone misogynistic be counted as a slur because it was targeted to damage their reputation (ignoring the flame bate rule)? How about racist? How close can we get a word to being a slur before it counts as actionable? What if you are a member of that group? I mean look at AN's post. Now, I have no idea of the context behind that, but on a base level, what if this was to happen exactly as they stated, just with other people. A gay person running around throwing "gay targeted" slurs. It just seems to me that a definite meaning behind the word slur is more needed. Or, maybe I'm just looking to far into this and it's obvious enough. ^:

[Gaybeans]

My question now is what qualifications are needed for it to be a slur? Would Calling someone misogynistic be counted as a slur because it was targeted to damage their reputation (ignoring the flame bate rule)? How about racist? How close can we get a word to being a slur before it counts as actionable? What if you are a member of that group? I mean look at AN's post. Now, I have no idea of the context behind that, but on a base level, what if this was to happen exactly as they stated, just with other people. A gay person running around throwing "gay targeted" slurs. It just seems to me that a definite meaning behind the word slur is more needed. Or, maybe I'm just looking to far into this and it's obvious enough. ^:

Slurs are very specific insults centers around religious beliefs, ethnicity, disability, gender and sexuality etc. they are built specifically to ostracise and oppress someone.

Calling out beliefs or actions as being sexist, anti Semetic or whatever is not remotely comparable. If it impacts their reputation then that's on them.

[Reginalida]

My question now is what qualifications are needed for it to be a slur? Would Calling someone misogynistic be counted as a slur because it was targeted to damage their reputation (ignoring the flame bate rule)? How about racist? How close can we get a word to being a slur before it counts as actionable? What if you are a member of that group? I mean look at AN's post. Now, I have no idea of the context behind that, but on a base level, what if this was to happen exactly as they stated, just with other people. A gay person running around throwing "gay targeted" slurs. It just seems to me that a definite meaning behind the word slur is more needed. Or, maybe I'm just looking to far into this and it's obvious enough. ^:

Sexists aren't a minority group.

[Sarzonia]

Unless you know a particular poster well enough, it can be nigh on impossible to gauge intent or context when someone uses a slur.

As a gay man, my hackles are ALWAYS raised any time I hear the f-slur, regardless of context, no matter who uses the word.

As a kid who was regularly called the r-slur, it is NEVER acceptable to me under any circumstances to use that term, even directed toward people I otherwise despise.

I'm against any effort to "reclaim" a slur on here.

[The Web Citadel]

If in doubt, consult the golden rule: if you have to ask, just don't do it.

[Reploid Productions]

Pretty much everybody above has already spelled out why this is something that the mod team is not going to entertain.

Technically speaking, we do not ban specific words. There are certainly situations in which slurs can be used in a manner that is not rulebreaking, but in the vast majority of contexts the use of a slur will be seen by Random Joe Public as some combination of flaming and/or trolling. You could no doubt have a fairly fascinating discussion of the etymological evolution of slurs without breaking the rules. But when you start casually throwing slurs around in a primarily text-only format, it's gonna look like flaming or trolling. We have no way to know whether that user slinging hard-r "nigger" or even soft-ah "nigga" has a particular melanin level in their skin or is just a regular old racist troll, nor are we going to waste absolutely unnecessary amounts of time demanding easily-faked "proof" to grant people "n-word passes", "r-word passes", and so on.

[Enzonar]

ah ok, thanks