Paralympics ad on TV

[wahwahwah]

...err 'I am a freak of nature'.

Um, the word 'freak' - I thought I midheard until it was on again last night. Am I being a bit 'PC' on this or is it really offensive?

.. DS is fascinated my amputees running on their blades. 'Mummy, can I do that when I am bigger?'

BA - you seem to think the only form of insult/offence has to be a personal one.

Have you heard of indirect discrimination, which has an unfair effect on a particular group of people.

A group of disabled athletes, putting a twist on a well known derogatory term and the effect it will have on other disabled people, is not 'edgy' or clever.

seems we are not allowed to care if our dc's are insulted/bullied

I do hope BA feels the same when it happens to his dc's

This whole dispute is about the way certain people adopt certain words as insults, yes?

Do you not see that if the athletes said "I am an athlete" instead, those certain people would then go around calling disabled people "athletes" in exactly the same way they call them "Joeys", "scopers" and so on?

Claig: When you used the term "what a joey" many years ago, and never knew where it came from, what was it you meant to say about that person?

IfGraceAsks do you really think that.....

As it happens, 2shoes, I do! Bigoted people remain bigoted, no matter what vocabulary they use. Both Joey's book and the Spastics Society's namechange to Scope were intended to cast a more positive light on people with motor disabilities. Sadly, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT WORDS YOU USE, the bigotry remains and the words are put to bad use.

I've already said it, as have many others ..!

This particular campaign has atually worked for me. I've never watched a Paralympic event in my life; never even known when the games were on. After seeing one single ad this year, I bothered to find out when & where the games are.

no I meant about the athletes bit.

Not quite Ifgrace, the words 'freak of nature' has been used as a derogatory term for people with disabilities for years.

Its a bit naive to think that a group of athletes can reclaim this word and that it will have a positive effect on other disabled people.

"Claig: When you used the term "what a joey" many years ago, and never knew where it came from, what was it you meant to say about that person?"

I meant "what an idiot", in the same way that we use the expression "what a wally". I now wonder if Wally was a real person also?

I never knew about Joey untill I read a thread on here, it made me feel sick tbh(the op was supported in her use of the word iynwim)

Yes, 2shoes, just the same as scope and joey have been used.

Perhaps I live in a harsher world than yours, but I can easily imagine certain people making "athletes" remarks sound pretty vile. Unlike you, though, I never have heard "freak of nature" used derogatorily about the disabled. As a perfectly valid term to describe an unusual birth defect, yes - also as a valid term describing the unusually gifted.

well having a disabled child myself I have heard most of them at some time or other, but cannot imagine that athlete will be used.

have you never heard of circus freak shoes, where have you been all your life?

shows

agree with 2shoes athlete would never be used as an insult

I can picture it now, you are such an athlete (strong, agile etc, etc) yes quite an insult!

Idiot is another previously-meaningful word that has now turned into an insult. If you meant "That individual has severe learning difficulties", you would have been accurate but rude. As it is, you made a judgemental remark that had no purpose other than to insult the "idiot". Okay, we all do it but I wish you would see how this negates your other arguments.

Just thought of a highly relevant example. When I was little, we used to call people with a certain birth defect "Mongols". This word was frequently used to mean "stupid person" so it was taken out of use and replaced with "Down's (syndrome)".

Nowadays, kids use "Downs" to mean stupid. And Mongols have gone back to being persons from the geographical region of Mongolia. You can re-value the word, but it doesn't change the bigotry. This is why I maintain "athlete" could - and would - be turned to bad use under appropriate circumstances.

I can see your point of view but you can't see mine. I give up.

"This particular campaign has atually worked for me. I've never watched a Paralympic event in my life; never even known when the games were on. After seeing one single ad this year, I bothered to find out when & where the games are."

that is the problem with it. It has worked for you and for Channel 4, but how will it work for the disabled people in the country, in the streets and the playgrounds?

Channel4 have won the rights to broadcast the Paralympics. I expect they paid for these rights and intend to make money from advertisers.

mediatel.co.uk/newsline/2010/08/09/channel-4-launches-paralympics-promotion-and-freaks-of-nature-campaign/

The 'acting chief creative officer' Bellamy says that "The Freaks of Nature marketing trail is part of a bold campaign". I wonder how much of the 'bold' campaign is for commercial purposes and how much thought they gave the effect on disabled children in school playgrounds? I wonder if the 'acting chief creative officer' would have been so 'bold' if he had a disabled child in a primary school?

Ifgrace, people still use 'Mong' and 'downs' as insults today, with the meaning 'stupid'

These athletes are not insulting disabled people directly, but indirectly by doing something that could be construed by others as giving an endorsement.

Exactly it has been done to increase viewing figures and make people money, not to raise understanding or awareness.

All well and good, but it doesnt help your plain old ordinary disabled 'freaks' who do not possess amazing abilities.

x-posted Claig, just said the same as you

exactly Claw3, they have used shock ads to get the public's attention and line a few pockets. I wonder how much thought they will spare for the hurt that is done to disabled children in schools when the 'creative officers' count their pennies?

I can't see 'athlete' being used as an insult in a widespread sort of way either , but yes there is a distinct risk that having disabled people in the spotlight in any way will lead to some people picking up on something and turning it into an insult. As the "joey" based insults show. That Blue Peter episode was intended to be positive after all, I wouldn't have thought they had any idea of the potential consequences. or that someone's very name could become a term of abuse.

I think the difference here is that freak is already used as an insult, so it is a reclaiming sort of idea. Not sure if they work mind. But if any sort of public visibility has the potential for increasing disability-phobia it's a bit of a lose lose situation. I guess it's like the silly fuss that was made about the cBeebies presenter with only one arm, the hope is that for every person whose prejudices were reinforced more people changed the way they thought (about both disabilities and the people with the prejudice).

How much does it really matter what a yob or a playground bully shouts? Whatever the words used, when the intent is to insult and harm, it will be clear. The choice of words is a lesser issue (and if Scope can be turned into "scoper" as a term of abuse then I can't see it as all that far-fetched that "athlete" could be similarly misappropriated).

It's not the playground bully that these things are intended to influence. It's the person who thinks they have the best interests of disabled people at heart; who seeks to "protect" them; who thinks they know better what is good for them. It's someone like claig appears to be (judging by her (his?) comments, at any rate).