“Retarded”
Introduction (Case Scenario)
My best friend’s younger sister has Down syndrome and on two separate occasions, we heard people casually throw the word “retarded” at each other. I remember the first time turning around to two young adults laughing after one responded “okaaay,” rolling her eyes and waving her hands in the air. I do not need to go into how upset I was for not only myself, but especially for my girlfriend standing right next to me. I wish I would have said something then, but you know those “what would you do” situations where you are just scared of sticking up for something or someone? Yeah, I’ve learned standing up for people who aren’t always there to defend themselves deserve better, and certainly deserve to be stood up for. Calling someone or something 'retarded' is plain narrow-minded and disrespectful (to say the least) because it is hurtful to those who actually are affected by mental disabilities. Instead, we should discuss a more constructive and definitive word to use to describe what you wish.
Argument analysis
The term retard means, “Having had a slower mental development than other people of the same age” (Retarded, n.d). People often use the term retard on the excuse and ignorant baseline of the contextual situation. For instance, a person may refer to another as a retard if they fail to conform to a norm or standard that calls for logic, this is different from one who has a mental condition like downs syndrome. However, the term retard is affective and hurtful to others regardless of the context as a factor of the precedent meaning (Smith, 2013). Everything said towards others should always align with the principles of rhetorical appeals for a mindful conversational or address statement (Halmari, 2005). Similarly, the use of near synonymous terms like lame which in this context means “unconvincingly feeble ” proves to be hurting and insulting since they are conditional euphemistic putdowns to the individual (McGinley, 2014). According to Delgado (1982), words and name-calling subjects the victim to emotional, psychological, and at times physical distress.
As much as one may be retarded, addressing them as such is morally and socially inappropriate. The situation is psychologically affective, corrodes emotions, and even lowers self-esteem (Braet, 1992). In my view, there is no other substitute to such and the best approach is to use their real names in a friendly approach. Pathos allows one to be socially and emotionally sensitive to others creating a friendly and socially interactive decision-making criterion and reasoning (Brinton, 1998).
Conclusion
Using the term retard on people proves to be exclusive insensitivity, ignores the values of individualism, offensive, derogatory, and fosters loneliness as victims seclude themselves. Therefore, we should be sensitive and carefully select the names we call people. We should just not utter words and expressions. Do to others what you want others to do you in a similar situation.
References
Braet, A. C. (1992). Ethos, pathos, and logos in Aristotle's Rhetoric: A re-examination. Argumentation, 6(3), 307-320.
Brinton, A. (1988). Pathos and the" Appeal to Emotion": An Aristotelian Analysis. History of Philosophy Quarterly, 5(3), 207-219.
Smith, R. (2013, March 06). “That’s so retarded” – Why I Stopped Saying This, And You Should Too. Retrieved 07 28, 2106, from Noah’s dad: http://noahsdad.com/spread-the-word-to-end-the-word/
Halmari, H. (2005). Persuasion across all genres: A linguistic approach. Amsterdam [u.a]: Benjamin’s. Print.
Retarded [Def. 1]. (n.d.). In Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/retarded.
McGinley, J. (2014, May 04). What Really Happens When You Use the R-Word? Retrieved July 07, 2016, from THE HUFFINGTON POST http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-c-mcginley/what-really-happens-when-you-use-the-r-word_b_4896444.html
Delgado, R. (1982). Words that wound: A tort action for racial insults, epithets, and name-calling. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 17, 133.
Lame [Def. 2]. (n.d). In Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved July 28, 2016, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/lame
