Language Matters, Dummy (or Shall I Say Intellectually Impaired)
Dems have a choice: reject the Orwellian language or watch as Republicans offend the people they think those words help.
Imagine this argument.
“You are such an intellectually impaired ass. You make me so mad.”
“Shut up, dummy.”
Setting aside concerns about social decorum and all that, who wins? Many of us here are, if not progressives, then liberal. A large portion of the readers on Medium — if they still exist which is hard to tell by my reads lately — came here to find sane voices away from the tsunami of lunacy and ignorance that has become all political discourse on the right (no, this summation of the right does not align with current liberal, PC language guidelines).
So I ask you: Is Marjorie Taylor Greene intellectually impaired or just a first-class dumbass? I vote for dumbass. However, Many on the left consider such an approach unhelpful. We are supposed to be civil with these cultists, and eventually, they will wake up enlightened. The great moment of epiphany, however, is never ever going to happen! I know intelligent conservatives who are Constitutional experts, and even they accept the horrors of Trumpism and MAGA. Are these conservatives cultists? No. But they are not alarmed or regretful about the rise of Trump and the fall of the Republican Party. So, how will niceties bring the hardcore intellectually impaired cultists back? They won’t.
Many — too many probably — in the Democratic Party think that by using a language of inclusion, focusing on every conceivable issue raised by under-represented groups will somehow soothe the concerns of Main Street Americans. The “kitchen table” issues like making ends meet and affording health care won’t be mitigated by calling immigrants the “undocumented,” forcing Americans to adopt pronouns that contradict what they are seeing (a young man wanting to be called “she,” or “they”), or referring to a married couple as “partners” instead of husband and wife.
I hesitate to call these unnatural changes to the language “linguistic luxuries,” though. There was a time when the n-word was commonly used even in newspapers, and men openly referred to women as “broads” and worse. Changes in language are appropriate and can empower people, but not calling a Black American the n-word won’t offend the racist, the way socially isolating Americans for failing to use the proper pronouns does.
The reality of people being canceled because they use improper terms is real. Good people not aligned with the cult and hate of the right are chased out of the progressive cause simply because they think it’s weird using the newspeak-y terminology.
The lack of tolerance for anything but the new language with the odd terms is one of the greatest problems confronting Democrats today. People can pretend that it is not, but they are only saying this because they don’t want to give up on the lunancy of this language fascism.
Here are some of the terms that while maybe made a handful of people feel better about themselves also turned off hordes of Main Street voters resulting in a sense that the Democratic Party has lost its mind.
Ally instead of mentor or sponsor.
BIPOC vs BME vs BAME
BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color
BME stands for Black and Minority Ethnic
BAME stands for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic
Generalizing People of Color, or amalgamating them into a single acronym, implies their experiences are similar enough to not require distinction. It may seem politically correct but can make people feel like their identities have been erased.
If you’re discussing issues pertaining to a group of Black people, and Indigenous people, and other People of Color, where it isn’t possible for you to be more specific, you might use BIPOC. But if you know their ethnicity (and it’s relevant to the context) use the most specific language possible.
Blak vs Black
D&I vs DEI vs DEIB
D&I stands for Diversity and Inclusion.
DEI stands for Diversity, Equity*, and Inclusion. (*see also Equality vs Equity)
DEIB stands for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
Gender Spectrum
The gender spectrum understands that gender is not binary (female/male), but rather a spectrum of biological, mental, and emotional traits existing along a continuum.
When using the terms sex and gender, it’s important to note:
Sex (female/male/intersex) describes biological traits.
Gender (woman, man, transgender, nonbinary) reflects how a person lives within society.
Cisgender describes a person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Transgender describes a person whose gender identity does not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Non-binary is an umbrella for various gender nonconforming identities most often used by those who do not strictly identify as ‘male’ or ‘female’.
Intersectionality, Latino/a vs Hispanic vs Latinx, LGBTQI+ vs LGBTTQQIAAP
LGBTQI+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, plus (+) all other identities.
LGBTTQQIAAP stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Ally, Asexual, and Pansexual. Some variations also include ‘2S’ in reference to the Two-Spirit identity.
While it’s important to be inclusive, understanding and patient when it comes to the diverse forms of identity that currently exist in our day-to-day life, the more letters you use, the more you open yourself up for scrutiny for excluding other letters. This can lead to the even greater risk of distracting focus from what’s important: real action to foster and support these communities. Let the + do its job and be clear you are inclusive of all in your other words and actions. This is why we recommend limiting the acronym to LGBTQI+.
Meritocracy (this is considered bad and a loaded term), Microaggressions, Multiracial vs. Mixed race. Nuerodiversity vs. Autism.
PFL vs IFL
PFL stands for Person First Language (or People First) eg. Person with a disability
IFL stands for Identity First language eg. Disabled person
When it comes to how we identify people living with various conditions or disabilities there is a strong consensus to use PFL. Rather than defining people primarily by their disability, Person First Language conveys respect by emphasizing people with disabilities are first and foremost just that — people.
However, there are people and communities (like autism and deafness) who prefer the use of IFL, believing this aspect of their identity is important to their sense of self and not an unfortunate disorder or disease to be cured of.
How a person chooses to self-identify is up to them, and they should not be corrected or admonished if they choose not to use language differing from the above (Diversity and Equality).
To be fair, I understand most if not all of the rationale behind these terms. I even agree with a lot if not all of it, nonetheless, I wholeheartedly don’t agree with these terms being forced upon Americans struggling to make ends meet; struggling to get out of debt; struggling to pay for health care; struggling with the gun violence present in their lives. The simple fact that the Democratic platform pays so much attention to this glossary, which is not all-inclusive, makes many Americans feel confused, lost, and abandoned. And then Donald Trump appears on the horizon and says that he too feels lost and confused.
And he offers them, to borrow a term from above, “allyship” and together he says, we will return “commonsense” to our country.
We make it so easy for them.