I have stated this plenty of times before, yet it needs repeating.
Words only have power to insult if one allows those words to have control over one's sensibilities.
Someone can call me a faggot and I will simply ignore it. It will not bother me.
I have been called a faggot and I merely ignored it.
If an individual reacts to being referred by a derogatory term, that individual is giving personal power away and toward the offender.
Claiming personal power over a term among one and one's own kind is not doing anything to empower one's self or community. In fact, it is doing quite the opposite, ensuring that the word will still affect them when used against them.
I have grown past other's petty insults, because in the end I realize that they are immature.
I have become mature by realizing that I refuse to give power to my offender by reacting to his name calling. And thus I become stronger by not using the term myself.
Words only have power to insult if one allows those words to have control over one's sensibilities.
Someone can call me a faggot and I will simply ignore it. It will not bother me.
I have been called a faggot and I merely ignored it.
If an individual reacts to being referred by a derogatory term, that individual is giving personal power away and toward the offender.
Claiming personal power over a term among one and one's own kind is not doing anything to empower one's self or community. In fact, it is doing quite the opposite, ensuring that the word will still affect them when used against them.
I have grown past other's petty insults, because in the end I realize that they are immature.
I have become mature by realizing that I refuse to give power to my offender by reacting to his name calling. And thus I become stronger by not using the term myself.
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
~ Erin Hunter