Curate, connect, and discover
“It’s so terrible that autistics have no empathy,” cry four hundred thousand people who have never once made an ounce of effort to empathize with an autistic person
you can’t disconnect words like “moron”, “idiot”, and “dumb” from their original meanings. they are ableist words. and continuing to use them in a derogatory fashion is ableist.
calling someone a “moron” is comparing them to someone who is disabled, usually someone with an intellectual or learning disability. so if that’s used in a derogatory way, you are saying that the disabled person is worthless, or whatever other word you would use instead of “moron”. even if the person you’re directing the word to is abled themselves.
comparing abled people to disabled people as a joke, or as a method of bullying is ableist. end of.
“They’re weird!/They’re not normal!”
That’s your opinion, not a fact. What you really mean is “They’re not like me”. They’re not hurting anyone by not being like you.
“They’re cringey!”
Again, it’s just your opinion, and they’re not hurting anyone. Cringe culture is pointless anyway.
“They’re annoying!”
Once again, just your opinion. If you think someone’s annoying, why not just stay away from them? No need to be rude.
“They’re autistic!”
Shame on you. Get out of my face.
“They’re fat!/They’re ugly!”
And you’re shallow. So what if you don’t like the way someone looks? It’s not your place to make them feel bad about it.
“They’re [any non-straight sexuality]!”
Get out of my sight. This is the 21st century.
“They’re trans!”
See above.
“They’re just seeking attention!”
You don’t know that for a fact. And even if they really are seeking attention, you don’t have the right to shame them.
“It’s funny to pick on them!”
Shame on you if you think bullying is funny. Get a life.
“I was just joking around!”
That’s no excuse. There are other ways to have fun that don’t involve putting other people down.
“Words can’t actually hurt anyone!”
Wrong. Words do hurt, and sometimes they can hurt more than actual physical injury.
“I’m not a bully, they’re just too sensitive!”
Not everyone reacts the same way. If you weren’t so rude, there wouldn’t be anything for the victim to be “sensitive” about.
“I’m just speaking the truth!”
Honesty is great. But you can be honest and say what you think without being rude about it. There’s a fine line between ‘brutally honest’ and ‘downright rude’.
“I have freedom of speech!”
You do. But if you’re using your ‘freedom of speech’ to bully and shame others, then you’re abusing it.
“But-”
I don’t care what ‘reason’ you pull out of your ass to try to justify bullying, it’s invalid. Bullying, whatever the reason is, is unnecessary, cruel, and totally pointless.
If you bully someone, you’re basically telling them:
“You don’t deserve to be happy”
“You’re inferior to me”
“Your feelings are a joke”