Meh. Language evolves if you let it.
I'm not going to spoiler this because I really want holier-than-thou lurkers to see it. Sorry, Kiwis. I'm sperging for the greater good here.
Did you know the word "bad" is homophobic? There's
some pretty good evidence that it derives from an Old English term for "effeminate man," or possibly, "hermaphrodite". So it's actually a transphobic slur, too. Better yet,
this same possible origin word could also mean "pederast," or "to defile" (in modern parlance, molest) so if YouTube's serious about demonetizing anything to do with pedophilia whatsoever, they'd better get to work.
"Faggot" was on the path toward losing its connotation with homosexuality too, even though it inarguably started out as an insult. Why? Because it was slowly being used more and more to describe actions or undesirable personality traits
that are independent of actually being gay. There's the old joke about how you don't mind the gays, but you can't stand the faggots -- and that's really where this was headed. And this actually means that the association of homosexuality with faggotry was in fact weakening. Which is good.
Similarly,, "bitch" is less flagrantly misogynistic than it used to be (particularly when used as a verb). It's exactly the same process, and the reason why no one's crucifying MBP on social media for using it. (Honestly, from this example alone you'd think these drama channels and sassy SJW types would appreciate how this works.) And if you want to talk "problematic," this wasn't only a matter of women reclaiming the term, but of gay men appropriating a slur that had nothing to do with them and adopting it into their vernacular. I mean, I don't mind -- but I'm always a little surprised when more people
don't.
Meanwhile, "cunt" was slowly being reclaimed, much as "nigger" was before it stalled out. None of these words were free of their *
ahem* problematic origins in the same way "bad" is, but they were getting there. And is "autistic" as a descriptor really that much more offensive than "depressed" or "paranoid" or "narcissistic"? It's not being used as a diagnosis; it's being used as an adjective, and not in a purely derogatory fashion.
It's a weird fucking world we live in where you can be as legit racist, misogynistic, or homophobic as you want as long as you're
polite about it. It's almost as though this is a distraction to keep keyboard warriors thinking they're on the side of all that's good and right whilst letting real problems go unaddressed. Who cares about literacy rates in the black community! SOMEONE SAID A BAD WORD ON TWITTER!
tl;dr Be more worried with social justice and less worried about language policing and the world will be a better place. Assholes.
