It was more than half way through fourth period. I had finished my test and turned it in but there were some people working till the bell. Once the bell rang, everyone turned in their test and started to head out. I started to walk out the door when I heard a voice ask someone, "How was the test?" Instead of the person replying that it was hard, eh or easy, I heard the most absurd answer that I didn't even know existed as an answer choice to a simple question like this: "It was so gay."
I instantly paused and had a confused look on my face. What? How is a test gay? It was the craziest thing I've ever heard.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the first time I've heard "gay" being used in the wrong context, along with other labels like "retard." It's completely unacceptable for someone to use labels like "gay" or "retard" in the wrong context because you may have no idea what it's like to have a personal label you identify with being used offhandedly or negatively.
The definition of retardation, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary is "an abnormal slowness of thought or action," while mental retardation is "sub-average intellectual ability equivalent to or less than an IQ of 70 that is accompanied by significant deficits in abilities necessary for independent daily functioning."
Unfortunately, this means that people are sometimes born with certain disabilities. We shouldn't be calling people this as an insult without knowing what the word means and the gravity of its meaning.
Using these words in an incorrect way develops a negative connotation around them.
It can be offensive to anyone associated with these words and destroys the true meaning of them. What I've realized is that a lot of people use the words wrongly because "everyone else does" and because "everyone does," people think it's okay that they do too, even though it's not.
When people use these terms in the wrong context and specifically mean it in a negative connotation, it really angers me. What has our society become to be throwing around powerful identity words like they mean nothing? It's 2018 now. People should grow to be more accepting and use labels correctly so we respect all humans equally. We aren't supposed to be isolating certain people because they have different beliefs or were born different than us.
Our society as a whole should communicate well, and instead of hurting people, show love to everyone because no one can have too much love. If we always think about what we're saying before saying it, the world would become a better place.
