Linguistic Reclamation of “Queer” Essay -- Social Issues, Discriminati

Linguistic reclamation is a cultural process of removing hatefulness from a term that is used negatively and oppressively by a dominant culture (out-group) against a specific, less powerful group (in-group). In the article â€Å"A Queer Revolution: Reconceptualizing the Debate Over Linguistic Reclamation,† the author, Robin Brontsema explores the reclamation of the word â€Å"queer† and other related â€Å"hateful speech intended to disable its target† from three different perspectives that are based on three identifiable goals: â€Å"neutralization† of the word, its â€Å"value reversal,† and â€Å"stigma exploitation† (46, 52). According to the first perspective, the â€Å"pejoration† or hate is â€Å"inseparable† from the detestable word, which implies that reclaiming the word would do no good; instead, omitting the word from language, if possible, will take care of the pain caused by the word (Brontsema 49). The supporte rs of the second perspective, on the other hand, believe that â€Å"pejoration† is separable from the spiteful word, and thus, reclamation of that word is supported (Brontsema 51). Finally, the third perspective believers, stressing that hate is inseparable from the word, support its reclamation because they believe that â€Å"a revolutionary call† that starkly obligates the out-group to accept the in-group for what it stands for can help in reversing the negativity of the word (Brontsema 52, 53). The topic of reclamation is more complex than one thinks because words that carry hate are dangerous to play with. As Jeane Kirkpatrick, the 16th US ambassador and an ardent anticommunist, once said, â€Å"Words can destroy. What we call each other ultimately becomes what we think of each other, and it matters† (ncvs.org). Words that are powerful and have the abi... ...anguage. They do not keep in mind that neutralizing â€Å"queer† will not neutralize the words related to â€Å"queer† automatically; in fact, the related words may recreate the original, hateful â€Å"queer†. Furthermore, those who think that hate is removable from â€Å"queer† are mostly young, and have not faced the real pain inflicted by the word in the past. On the other side of spectrum, some think that the in-group (homosexuals) must create a revolution against the out-group by using the power of hate that â€Å"queer† contains in order to force the authoritarian group to stop using â€Å"queer† in an abusive way. However, homosexuals may not be successful in changing the faith of others because faith cannot be forcefully determined. In the end, one can definitely say that reclamation of â€Å"queer† is of no use because the hate associated with â€Å"queer† only dies if the word â€Å"queer† dies.