Categorist Slurs

A facet of categorism: The act of creating or reproducing a equivocation where the same word is used as a “bad word” in general while also used to refer to a category of people. For example, someone who is looking for a generic insult to spit at someone may use the word “gay” (thus building a discourse built on homophobia) or “retarded” (thus building a discourse built on ableism).

Interactions

This facet of categorism is an expression of: bigotry and discrimination.

It is likely to intersect with facets such as:

• Demonization: This category is bad that enough to be a bad word...
• Othering: The people we use as a bad word are obviously not "us", but something else.

As well as with abstractions such as:

• Equivocations: When we use the same word for a category of people and for a bad trait or bad behavior, it becomes easy to think that the people and the trait/behavior is the same thing.
• Categorization by emotional bias: As we load the words with negative energy, we assume that any person we like don't belong to those categories, while anyone we dislike do belong to them.

Examples of applying this facet to a particular foci of categorism can include:

• Homophobia: Using words like "gay" and "faggot" as generic insults or as describing some bad way of being silly and pathetic.
• Ableism: Using words like "retarded", or a psychiatric diagnosis such as Asperger, to describe anyone who's way of thinking you don't like.

Categorist Slurs in example texts

• Adam's homophobia: Part of Adam bullying Cedric by accusing him of being gay.