For the longest time, I had dealt with name-calling. In third and fourth grade, when my sense of self was extremely undefined, I was called "gay" every day at school by one of the worst tormentors I'd dealt with. When I finally thought I had figured out who I was, I was ashamed. I was worried that maybe it was wrong, all because of this taunting I had endured. Eventually, I learned to accept myself. Just in time, too. High school began and, now, I was dealing with a new name. Its shortened version was three letters just like the previous name I'd been called but, in many people's eyes, it was far worse. It has only been used directly against me a handful of times. However, I still manage to wince and try to shrink myself whenever I hear it.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a slur as "a shaming or degrading effect." This means that almost any word can be considered a slur depending on the context. They're not fun and they're not anything anyone should have to deal with.
In today's society, slurs are so prevalent that some of them have become normalized in conversations. If it's a word that targets someone in a negative way, it shouldn't be used in a negative way. Once we've discontinued that negative connotation of a slur and use it freely in a positive way, it has been successfully reclaimed. Reclaiming slurs isn't easy, though.
I would like to be able to reclaim the "f-slur" for myself and to not be so impacted by it. Still, every time I hear someone even begin the word, I flinch. I try to move away as fast as I can. Seeing it written or typed out elicits a similar reaction from me. I try to avoid it as much as possible, but, being in high school, it's everywhere. It's created an environment filled with anxiety and fear and it's all based on a single word.
The fact that we give words so much power over us is an amazing piece of the human nature. By letting words like slurs hurt us so much, we put the power to destroy us into the hands of anyone who can speak the same language as us and write the same language as us.
This is why it's important to stand together. We need to reclaim these slurs. Not just for ourselves but also for others that they have been used against. It's a common fact that words hold power. It's time for us to take that power contained in these words that have been used negatively against people for so long and use it to empower each other. You alone have the power to take what was used to destroy you and make it raise you up instead.
