Social Stigmas
By: Celeste Brown, Alicia Dukes, Chloe Evans, Mason Lambert
Date: April 25, 2016
I. Introduction
Faggot, dyke, retarded, gay, nigga/nigger... how many times have you heard
your friends, family members, classmates or even random people on the street use these words
and so many others? How many times have you used them yourself? Though to many people
these words may just seem like the lingo of the times, they are actually much more than that.
They have a history of being derogatory and are meant to seriously hurt the people they were
directed at. This is the problem we want to address. In todays society we treat these words as if
they were nothing, singing along to them when we hear our favorite rapper on the radio or
throwing them out at someone when they do something we dont like. Yet we never take into
consideration how deeply they can be taken by members of our own community. Our solution is
to raise awareness, not only of the words themselves but also why and to whom they matter. We
want to show the world that these people are so much more than the profiles that they have been
given and that these words are significant and awful to the people who bear their burden. Our
hope is that if we show enough people their own ignorance on this subject, as well as give them
the facts needed in order to make educated decisions about their word choices, that we will
decrease the amount of people who continue to speak this way.
In our proposal we will cover the origins of words such as faggot, retarded, nigga, etc.
and how they have been transferred into slang in todays society. Well talk about our research
regarding previous social experiments and how we didnt find any similar to ours. We will then
go into detail about what we are going to do in order to make our video memorable. We plan on
including both an outside perspective, by showing how these words are viewed by regular
people, as well as a more inside perspective by talking to the people whom these words affect
and highlighting the fact that they are much more than them. Lastly, we will discuss what our
lasting impression will be along with other technical details about the project.
II. Motivation
Derogatory terms are prevalent in every aspect of society. Whether its the word,
nigger, which has been used as a word to degrade blacks and distinguish them from whites
since colonial America, or the word, faggot, which is a more modern word used to offensively
label homosexual men; disparaging terms are weapons of discrimination.
Perhaps the current worst derogatory terms are related to sexual identity. In fact,
Violencepreventions.org says that as many as 93 percent of teenagers hear derogatory words
about sexual orientation at least once in awhile, with more than half of teens surveyed hearing
such words every day at school and in the community. That percentage is staggering because
the people who are influenced by anti-gay terms the most are teenagers; they will grow up
affected by sexual discrimination. Some of those people may even commit suicide, and
according to bullyingstatistics.org, 30% of those suicides will be sexual identity crisis related.
Despite these facts, the word, faggot is possibly the most used slur in the English language.
Derogatory terms arent just an issue in bullying cases, however. The infamous N-word is
used in a large majority of rap songs made by African American artists today. Because the word
is being used so frequently in pop culture, young people of all ethnicities are using the word as a
slang without knowing the actual definition of it. Though some use it as a casual word or maybe
something they call someone they dislike, the African American Registry describes that the
word, nigger, carries with it much of the hatred and disgust directed toward Black Africans and
African Americans. Historically, nigger defined, limited, made fun of, and ridiculous led all
Blacks. It was a term of exclusion, a verbal reason for discrimination. The importance of not
using the word nigger is because the word is historically a word of self hate and hate from
others, using it in pop culture only perpetuates the problem.
Sadly, the problem has been perpetuated largely on the internet. The reason we are doing this
social experiment is to help people realize the definitions and historical effects of degrading
terms like the word nigger. Using the Oxford Dictionary and various sources, we researched
the history and etymology of these words and wrote them below.
(Etymology/History)
Faggot: Though the origin of the word faggot is indefinite, we know that the word comes
from fagot, meaning a bundle of sticks. Some say that the usage of faggot may originate
from 1600s English, where faggot was commonly used as a derogatory term towards old
women. Like the usage of the word faggot towards homosexual men, the origin of the words
usage towards old women can only be speculated upon. Some would say it refers to the difficulty
and discomfort of carrying a large bundle of sticks, or a fagot.
Another more contemporary possible origin of the words pejorative use can be linked with what
the United Kingdoms private schools have issues with. Fagging. A practice in which younger
school boys would have to perform duties for the older school boys. These duties were
sometimes sexual duties. However, it is important to note that the word faggot has never been
used in the context of fagging, but instead the word fag takes its place.
First known derogatory use towards homosexual men: 1914
Dictionary Definition: North American informal, offensive: A male homosexual
(Oxford Dictionaries)
Dyke:
History (Etymology)
Like faggot, the origin of the word dyke is unknown. Though the word dyke originated from
the word bulldyke. There are many theories suggesting the origin of the word bulldyke, but no
one is certain which theory, if any of them, are true.
First known use: 1920s Harlem Renaissance literature, 1942 is the first attestation of the word.
Dictionary Definition: Informal, Offensive: A lesbian.
(Oxford Dictionaries)
Krantz, Susan E.. Reconsidering the Etymology of Bulldyke. American Speech 70.2 (1995):
217221. Web
About thirty percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis.
(bullyingstatistics.org)
Retarded:
History (Etymology)
Origin comes from late 15th century French. French - retarder> Latin - retardare > From Latin
Roots- re back, tardus slow.
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/08/01/2013-18552/change-in-terminology-mentalretardation-to-intellectual-disability
Dictionary Definition: Dated or Offensive: Less advanced in mental, physical, or social
development than is usual for ones age.
Informal Definition: Informal, Offensive: Very foolish or stupid.
(Oxford Dictionaries)
Nigga(er):
History (Etymology)
The origin of the word nigger comes from neger, an early 16th century word translating to niger,
a latin word meaning black.
The word nigger has been used as a strongly negative term of contempt for a black person since
at least the 18th century. Today it remains one of the most racially offensive words in the
language. Also referred to as the n-word, nigger is sometimes used by black people in reference
to other black people in a neutral manner (in somewhat the same way that queer has been
adopted by some gay and lesbian people as a term of self-reference, acceptable only when used
by those within the community). (Oxford Dictionaries)
In the era of enslavement, the words "nigger" or "black" were inserted in front of a common
American first name (e.g., John), given to a slave to distinguish the slave from any local white
person with the same name.
Dictionary Definition: Offensive: A contemptuous term for a black or dark-skinned person.
III. Project Summary
After doing some research, I have found very little evidence of similar social
experiments. There are many videos of pretending to be a bully or a perpetrator of
discrimination. Most of these videos are filmed by hidden cameras as the actors are in busy
areas, like a school or just on the street. The actors are usually spitting out slurs or pretending to
threaten or bully someone. Sometimes passersby give the actors exactly what they are hoping for
and other times they aren't given the time of day. Unfortunately there is no sure way to get a
reaction out of people. When confronted, passersby often state that they were too afraid to
intervene, were about to call the police or felt that it was not their business. I have not been able
to find any videos showing what people think of these words and how they affect the victim. We
feel that not many people actually know where many derogatory terms stem from and what they
actually mean. Educating the public on how offensive these words can be is very important.
We want to raise awareness of how these words are being used inappropriately and
correct the behavior. For our video we want to compare what people think of these terms to what
they actually are. When the public learns what these words truly mean, we hope that they will not
use them, and possibly they will educate their friends and family as well. Our plan to make the
public understand the offensiveness of our words is to make them experience the offensiveness
of our words through the bitch simulation, the simulation you did for us in class. Each term
will have its own, but similar, script for the simulation. We are hoping to make people
understand the true meanings and origins of these words through feeling their impact, which can
help show how important it is to stop using them.
IV. Project Details
Setting up the Environment
What we want to do is go out in the public, and ask people their thoughts on certain
words that have been switched to mean something other than what they meant when they were
first used in history. Then we started to think about who we should ask these questions to and we
decided to ask people in general. Ordinary adults and teens who are just walking down the street.
Weve also decided to ask people who identify with these words. For example, if one of our
words was faggot. Wed go out to Hillcrest and ask a gay person what that word means to
them. We thought questioning people who identify with these stereotypical derogatory terms
would give a strong message to the audience because the people who identify with these words
most likely have a different definition of what it means to them than just the average joe. The
audience will hopefully be the current generation plus future generations, because the change
well see, if there is any, will be within the youth of the coming years. Generations are getting
more optimistic towards the subject of equality and if we educate them to not use these words, if
derogatory vocabulary faded away thered be less things to bully about and one day wed be able
to notice each other as humans for our personalities instead of our stereotypical prejudices. Wed
like to end the video with the people we questioned who identify with these word to have their
faces filmed and their derogatory identifier under them, then having it clear away to show their
name or an empowering identifier. This would be the breakfree moment in our video showing
that we are more than the words that define us.
Our second breakfree moment is going to be or the people who inflict harm through these
terms. We will be able to tell who uses the words through our random interviews. Our questions
will change based on their answers. So, for example, if the interviewee says, Yes, I do use these
words, then I can reply by asking them why. After their response to why, we will ask them if
they know the true meaning of the word. They will most likely admit that they dont, and then
we will tell them the origin. At this point, were hoping to catch a look on their face of surprise
or disbelief, as well as getting a possible response from them saying theyre surprised. However,
if they still dont care, were going to push and tell them a hard statistic/fact to shut down their
opinion. For example, the faggot statement would be Did you know that in saying the word
faggot, youre contributing to 30% of the suicides in America? A statement like this has been
written for every word we chose, along with follow up support for the statistics in order to make
sure we shut down the inflictor.
To do this project well need a camera, and some editing software, most likely whatever
would be available to us at school.
Expert Contacts:
Anatoly Liberman
[email protected]
(612)625-5594
Beverly Ann Kilman, PhD
Licensed Psychologist 1023
3576 Third Ave San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 295-2749
Stephen Brewer, PsyD
Licensed Psychologist PSY26177
3356 2nd Ave Suite G
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 377-3120
Mary McGinn Clark, PhD
Licensed Psychologist MFC 17748
10981 San Diego Mission Rd Suite 114
San Diego, CA 92108
(619) 280-0285
Breffni C Barrett
Licensed Psychologist PSY4516
3225 Fourth Avenue
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 297-7181 107
Louis J Nidorf
Licensed Psychologist PSY 4195
3180 University Ave. Suite 210
San Diego CA, 92104
(760) 353-1061
We wanted Anatoly Liberman as an expert contact because he is an etymologist and we
think learning how a word can change meanings over the years in our history can be a strong
addition to our video. The other contacts are psychologists. We chose psychologists because
psychologists study the brain and feeling within a person. Learning how these words actually
affect us (mentally and emotionally) would be extremely interesting and probably essential to
learning why derogatory words are formed and why it hurts so much to be called such a negative
word.
http://www.apa.org/topics/index.aspx
Implementation Issues and Challenges
A difficulty we might face is being offensive to the people were filming. Since our idea
is to film people who are unfortunately labeled with the derogatory words we are experimenting
with, going up randomly and asking a person how they feel about these words might bring up
some bad memories for these people. Also, they might think were assuming a theyre gay and
feel offended, for example if theyre actually straight. A way to prevent this would be to politely
ask the person if they are what we need them to be and if they mind being filmed for a project.
This could still land us in rough waters, but we might be a tad luckier being polite and asking
before assuming. Something about our project thats unique is that nobody has done a social
experiment on words. Yes people have done experiments on bullying and on what would you do
scenarios where the stereotypical derogatory of the word is actually being acted on, but no one
has ever just done on words and simply what they mean to different kinds of people. I think this
could go viral because first its something nobody has ever seen and second its educating, its
interesting (if done right) and its controversial. Everyone loves a good controversial topic to
discuss about.
Deliverables
The project will produce a video, (hopefully no longer than 5 minutes) of a social
experiment that shows viewers the power of words and their evolution. Wed start by going to
select areas where wed find our actors and have a set of questions wed have them answer.
Before we start asking questions, we will do the bitch simulation with the person we are
interviewing. Afterwards, the question sequence will begin with asking how they feel in response
to the simulation. An example of our script can be seen here:
Script: Nigga
-First were going to have you close your eyes
-Imagine an African American child. A child that you love
-Think of the last time you saw them, what did you guys do? Reach out and touch them
-Do you have the image in your mind? Thumbs up if you do
-Okay hows that little nigga doin?
*Wait for reaction?*
-Okay now open your eyes
-How did that make you feel? Why?
-What does the word nigger mean to you?
-What about nigga?
-What is the difference between those two words?
-How do they make you feel?
-How is it used in todays society?
-Do you know what it actually means?
-What would you do if you heard someone using these words in a negative way?
-*IF NOTHING* why not
-How would you feel if somebody was using these terms against you?
-Have you ever called someone one of these words?
-How has this experience changed your mindset on these words?
-Are you going to walk away from this and educate your friends and even strangers you
hear using this word?
We also want to do a behind the scenes video where we discuss our process from start to
finish where were recording us thinking in our brainstorm sessions and then recording us trying
to find actors to recording us actually making the video, this component would mainly be for
exhibition purposes, showing the ins and outs of our process. Our project should contribute a
fresh pair of eyes on a topic not really discussed before about how using certain words that
identify with people in a way that is derogatory or synonymous with the lesser is the same thing
as saying those people are synonymous with the lesser, and its not fair to those people to be
judged and discriminated with words that cause emotional harm to them even though those
people most likely had no control over their situation.
Our final call to action will be a pledge that our interviewees take on camera. The pledge
will be I, ______, pledge to know the power in my words. This will allow us to create an
internet meme (Not a funny meme, but an actual meme.) that will be used to spread our
message.
Timeline
Week 1: Brainstorm and come up with ideas for social experiment video concept and finish the
proposal by friday April 22.
Week 2: Have a set plan for which people were going to ask, how many people were going to
ask and which questions well ask. This week well also need to collect the materials to start
shooting for next week. And get in contact with experts to see when theyre available.
Week 3: If theres still materials you need, Monday will be the only leeway day. The rest of this
week is preparation for shooting, double checking, schedule linking, and availability check.
Early this week (Tuesday/Wednesday) try to nail that interview with the expert. Friday no school
day will be the day we link up and film (Hopefully everyone can have a bus pass so we can film
all day friday and not have to worry about a ride)
Week 4: EDITING!!! Post production is here. Edit all the footage and put it into video format.
Hopefully if you start on Monday you can finish by end of Tuesday or mid Wednesday. With that
extra time (Thursday, Friday) watch over video and see if anything is missing if so, plan a day to
shoot the extra shots needed.
Week 5: Shoot anything extra that needs to be filmed here. Show to someone to gather feedback
and work towards that, also plan out how exhibition is going to look. If video is finished try
playing with a copied version to see if you can make it aesthetically better. Make sure video if
ready for formal critique next monday.
Week 6: Video critique is the 23rd (monday). Adjust according to feedback given and prepare for
the exhibition that Thursday.
VI. Conclusion
Our project has been created to address the fact that too many people today use words without
thinking of the damage they can cause. In return many people live in fear of having these words
thrown at them without reason. Our goal is to inspire a society where these words are not being
used at all. We want to be a voice for the victims of these words and bring awareness to what
they truly mean. Our proposed solution is to shine a light on how little people really know about
these words as well as talk to the people who these derogatory terms are aimed at and find out
how they feel about them. We want our viewers to see first hand the long-lasting effects of this
issue rather than just being told that it can be hurtful. This is a topic that is not often talked about
and we feel that by making this video we will be doing our part in raising awareness and
ultimately creating a more accepting place for all.
References/Cited
United States. Social Security Administration. Federal Register. N.p., 01 Aug. 2013. Web. 21
Apr. 2016.
"Gay Bullying Statistics - Bullying Statistics." Bullying Statistics. 2015. Web. 22 Apr. 2016.
http://www.apa.org/topics/index.aspx Website we found the psychologists on.
Reise, Jaine, LSW. "Bullying & Sexual Orientation | Violence Prevention Works." Bullying &
Sexual Orientation | Violence Prevention Works. Hazelden Publishing. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
"Nigger (the Word), a Brief History." Welcome To "Voices That Guide Us" Personal Narratives.
Web. 26 Apr. 2016.
