Category Archives: Social Justice Synonyms
Social Justice Synonyms #23: “Exotic”
Welcome to another instalment of Social Justice Synonyms, a column at The Talon that discusses reasons we should be critical of the language we use, and why we should unlearn certain words that maintain the status quo. Previous segments can be found here. Today I’d like to talk about the word “exotic” and the […]
Social Justice Synonyms #22: “Gypped/Gypsy”
The word “Gypsy” is the misnomer that subsumes all harmful stereotypes of the Romani people, one that has long connoted illegality and irregularity.
Social Justice Synonyms #21: “Prostitute”
On Sunday March 29th #facesofprostitution went viral. The hashtag was a response from queer Australian sex worker Tilly Lawless to an article posted on the website Exodus Cry entitled “The Reality of Pretty Woman.” The article argued that Pretty Woman, the 1990 movie in which Julia Roberts plays a sex worker, romanticizes the realities of […]
Social Justice Synonyms #20: “You guys”
Welcome back to Social Justice Synonyms, a column at The Talon that discusses the power of language and why we should unlearn the words that maintain the status quo. For more insight, check out our past segments here. This week’s segment looks at needlessly gendered terms, specifically the phrase “guys/you guys.” Greeting a group of […]
Social Justice Synonyms #19: “Slave”
In honour of Rule Out Racism Week here at UBC, this week’s Social Justice Synonym is dedicated to the term “slave.” The casual use of the word “slave” to express conditions that are considered unfair (“Working this hard, and this long on a project is basically slavery”) or even to convey how hard a person […]
Social Justice Synonyms #18: “Crippled” and “Paralyzed”
Generally, using the words “crippled” and “paralyzed” to refer to people with disabilities is impolite. However, they’re still being used to describe impairment, whether it’s in the media, daily conversations, or pop culture. It is not uncommon to encounter a news headline that reads something along the lines of, “Basketball team suffers crippling loss at […]
Social Justice Synonyms #17: “Dyke” and “Fag”
The words “fag” and “dyke” are both words that carry a history of violence – emotional, verbal, and physical – against folks perceived as QUILTBAG. They’re words that have been, and continue to be used to remind people when they are enacting gender or sexuality in ways seen as ‘deviant’ according to social norms, which […]
Social Justice Synonyms #16: “Illegal Immigrant”
Welcome to the sixteenth segment of Social Justice Synonyms, a column at The Talon that discusses harmful and oppressive language embedded in our culture and provides ways to unlearn this language. This week’s term is illegal immigrant. This piece pulls from the work of Harsha Walia, a local South Asian activist, whose book Undoing Border […]
Social Justice Synonyms #15: “Anorexic” and “Bulimic”
Colloquial misappropriations likening these disorders to weight loss strategies or bad habits, as well as associating them with celebrities and tabloid stories, serves to belittle these disorders and shame those living with them. This can cause persons living with an eating disorder to feel afraid to speak out for fear of being misunderstood, or for fear that they will be shamed and referred to as “crazy.”
Social Justice Synonyms #14: “I raped that midterm”
Content note: This piece discusses rape, rape culture, child sexual abuse, colonialism, violence against sex workers, and transmisogyny. In honour of Sexual Assault Awareness Month here at UBC, this week’s Social Justice Synonyms will be dedicated to phrases which trivialize sexual violence, such as “I raped that midterm” or “that midterm raped me.” Casual use of […]
