Episode 58: Reappropriation

   I once took a class on reappropriation. Which is, in short, the action of taking the meaning of one thing and flipping the script, wearing the world as a badge of honor and embracing it, making the word a good thing. For some, it's a way of fighting discrimination. Taking a word that is used to hurt you and embracing it takes away the harmful power of that word.

The N-Word

  You know exactly what word I'm talking about. The vile, nasty, no-no word. The word makes me feel gross to think about, and I feel angry and sad knowing that not only do people say it, but they say it with such vitriol and disgust. 

   However, I'm sure you've heard people say this word with an "a" ending instead of an "er" ending. The "a" ending has become sort of a word of fellowship among black people, and I'm glad they've found a way to fight the harm done by the word and use it as a term of fellowship. 

   I don't think anyone should say the "er" ending. Horrible world. That should leave nobody's lips. And I don't think white people, or even people of non-black minorities, should say the "a" ending. It's perfectly fine and even good for black people to say it with the "a" ending, but that word is for them and I don't think it's right for other races to say it.

Bitch

   AGH! My family reads this blog and I just said "bitch!" Just kidding. I'm sure they don't care. I am a 22-year-old man. I say bad words sometimes. Everyone says bad words sometimes. You know what "bitch" means, and you know it's usually attributed to women, and used by a man who doesn't like how that woman is acting. Several sexist men, many of them rappers, use the word as a general term for women.

   But, some women have chosen to reappropriate the word and embrace it, and use "bitch" as a word that represents a strong, no-nonsense woman. But, of course, more than that even, it just remains a normal swear word.

   I see it like the female equivalent of the word "dick". It's a swear word that means a mean woman, but it can be used against men as well. Often when used against men, it means a man who is cowardly. I don't know why I'm explaining this word so much. You know about it.

Redneck/Gay/Queer

  Not much to say on these three, except that they all fit the reappropriation thing I'm talking about, to some extent.

Capeshit

   It's a slur for superhero media. Used by Martin Scorsese simps and others who think a three and a half hour movie about mob bosses is just about the only thing that qualifies as quality cinema. By people who are just jealous of the success superhero movies get, so they just cry and yell "but it's bad!"

   I've embraced the word, and I love capeshit. I love stuff about superheroes; comics, shows, and movies. 

Anyways, see you next week!