MNHQ .. Can we talk about disability bashing?

[Brownsugarshortbread]

Over the years i have posted on and enjoyed MN.
Sadly there seems to be a growing culture of it being okay to have a go at disabilities, those who claim DLA and those who's children have 'invisable' disabilities such as ADHD and ADD.
The terms 'freak' and 'scrounger' have been batted around and comments from some posters IMO certainly boarder on harrassment and discrimination.

When certain posts or posters have been reported, some have been removed, yet a lot haven't.

And while I agree with free speech, these types of comment or reaction to these comments, are not an education for those bigoted posters. Nor do those whose lives are touched by disability wish to be used to educate those posters.

Disability Harassment

is unwanted behaviour based on disability,
impairment or additional need. Such behaviour may include comments that are patronising or objectionable to the recipient or which creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for people with disabilities. Disability harassment includes inappropriate reference to disability, unwelcome discussion of the impact of disability, refusal to work with and exclusion of people with disabilities from social events or meetings.

justabout - my great post message was to you 12:31 post, sorry that I missed the news post MrsDe.

It's so very sad.

not sure who posts it but mn hq have lifted the cap on this thread, so we can keep going and sadly no doubt we will need too.

well sadly earlier there was a shouty AIBU thread with a disablist insult in the sodding title. and guess what, yep it is educational.
so one step forward and 2 back(and yes the op knew it was offensive)

Coming back to this thread.

I emailed MNHQ last week, to ask that they delete a thread/post which contained the phrase 'you morons'. I included a reference to the history of the word 'moron' showing clearly its use within disability, and asked that it be deleted on the grounds of its history.

The reply I received, was that 'moron' was now a general usage word in the eyes of MNHQ.

Really? Really and truly? You would use that word to address a professional who you felt had got something wrong? You would say 'you must be a 'moron'...?

Doubt it.

The other objection I have to the response, is that actually, mainstream words only become marginalised when a community stands up and says 'this is not acceptable.'

Now, the Black community is made up of all sorts of individuals. Some very intelligent, powerful individuals, some very vulnerable, etc.

The disabled community, is by definition, exclusively populated by people who have in some way a disadvantage in accessing daily life. Many, many of those people are able to overcome the disadvantage, but still it remains, that they have to do so much simply to 'level the playing field'.

Until the 1950's N was a mainstream word, a word that was acceptable and 'normal'. It was seen as merely a descriptor. Would anyone DARE to suggest that N is a mainstream word now? That it is acceptable? That it is 'normal'? No.

It is NOT good enough for MNHQ to suggest that because words that affect and denigrate the disabled community are 'mainstream', they are acceptable.

The law protects us. Full stop.

How long has it taken for sexist words and statements to be dealt with? It is about time Disability was seen in the same light.

lougle good post, have to say you have educated me about that word and although it wasn't a word i used, it is now added to my list of banned ones.

wow mnhq

I woudl not thought use of the word moron is acceptable .My kids know it is not

It's a bad word to use because it means 'stupid' and that's is a rude and unconstructive way of talking to people. But if 'moron' ought to be banned from MN then what about 'hysterical' and 'monster' (the former having its origin essentially in the claim that women are prone to mental illness by their nature, and the latter being an earlier origination from 'freakshows')? What about the thread in Conception with 'freak out' in its title?

I certainly will ban myself from using 'moron' in future (not that I used it anyway), because I have learnt from lougle that it is offensive to some pople because of its history. Whether it ought to be banned from MN I am not so sure.

Justa, its another thread along the lines of "My dh called me a ...", using an atrocious word in the title of a thread allegedly about the unacceptibility of the word.

I wish I had the bottle to start a thread saying something along the lines of my dh said i was as brown as a n , in the thread title, I could then say I was offended in the post, bet that would be deleted, I am getting fed up that nothing changes.

still don't get it, have tried to , honest, but why is it deemed ok to have these offensive words in the thread title and why can't mn hq pull it or edit?

thing is shoesy you wouldn't just get deleted, you'd probably be banned as well. Can see why people are saying there are double standards.

I am pretty sure all these threads like "DH just called me a xxxxx, is it wrong?" are complete wind-ups, by people who think it's side-splittingly funny to get words like "flid" (which no-one has used for years) up in print on Mumsnet.

there are people on that thread, though, who are saying it is in common use in their area - both as an insult, and the apparently innocent version too.

I am not sure that words should not be in thread titles. I say this as the parent to a disabled child, and as the close relative of someone affected by Thalidomide. I do not find that thread offensive, on the whole.

I find the graffiti (if it happened) offensive, naturally. and I think it ridiculous that there is a poster doing the same old "but I don't use it that way" innocent routine, and trying to keep the right to use a term that many will find offensive.

But I think the thread has been valuable - there are posters who did not know what it meant, an do now. same for Joey. there are posters who have changed their mind over the usage, which can only be a good thing.

agree the thread has value, but the title hasn't, surely an offensive word wasn't needed, and why can't mn hq do something, this was the same thing that happened on the s thread.

Agreed Shoesy, no need for the actual word to be used.

There is a directly disablist OP in AIBU right now. I have reported and hope that it is dealt with effectively.

here

think it has gone and dam jst gave her a run down of my day offered to change places with her to lol

glitter see it has gone, I missed what ever it was.
Is mn hq watching rob the baker, he is posting some vile stuff

There was a lot of fun about goats. TBH, every single poster slated the OP with her 'I work hard but lazy, bad mannered, disabled drug addicts on benefits live better than me' stance. Quite positive really! And I learnt a lot about goats and their habits. Was just progressing on to llamas when it was pulled.