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Can Reclaimed Slurs Be Toxic to Minority Groups?

Mia Bladon
a black man sitting leaning over his mobile phone, reading reclaimed slurs.

CW: This article discusses the reclamation of slurs historically used in an offensive way towards minorities, as well as some of the implications and consequences of cyberbullying and online hate speech/harassment. 

Mia Bladon

Picture this: it’s been a long, difficult day at work. Exhausted and frustrated, you log on to social media. In vain, you hope a browse on the internet might diffuse your anger. You come across social media discourse on a sensitive issue, with the replies full of ignorant and bigoted views. Impulsively, you fire off a few angry messages without considering the consequences.

Now, imagine being on the receiving end of these messages. You’re a vulnerable member of a minority group, who wanted to read through your friends’ thoughts and post a few of your own. However, your excitement turns to hurt as you stumble across messages referring to people like you with an incredibly offensive term.

You may have reclaimed the word as a term of empowerment and protest. But witnessing the use of the word in a hostile context opens up wounds you didn’t even realise you had in this day and age.

What Is A ‘Reclaimed Slur’?

As a woman and a member of the LGBT+ community, this upset is all too familiar. I am a member of two minority groups who have re-appropriated once offensive terms for our own empowering use. Dictionary.com talks about how a group using words that hold “immeasurable power” against them can revoke their use as “tools of the oppressor”.

According to the Guardian, young women have re-appropriated the derogatory word ‘bitch’ as a term of “new ironic or comic positive usage”. Turning a hurtful word into something positive is a common way of dealing with life under the patriarchy. Words referring to women or their bodies are often reclaimed, online and in real life, such as ‘pussy’ or ‘slut’.

“Twenty-two per cent of Americans have experienced severe online harassment in the past year”

Similarly, the Guardian reports that the LGBT+ community considers ‘queer’ a term of “beauty, sexuality, identity, lust, feeling, excitement, and love”. However, the term is still often used in its original derogatory manner. But (like the other previously offensive terms ‘homosexual’ or ‘transsexual’) people within the community now feel comfortable referring to themselves as ‘queer’. Even companies and media organisations sometimes use ‘queer’ as shorthand for LGBT+.

But not LGBT+ person feels the same. Despite their respectful, appropriate use of the term in reports, American news organisation NPR describes how an LGBT+ listener took offence to their use of the reclaimed slur. The listener claims he did not spend his entire life ‘being called queer’ for journalists to use it liberally.

The Use Of Slurs On The Internet

You’ve likely encountered reclaimed slurs online, used in both empowering and demeaning contexts.

Sadly, the use of offensive language has risen over the past decade. In 2011, a poll revealed seventy-one per cent believed people are more likely to use slurs when online than face-to-face. Only half expressed they would be an upstander in such situations.

Thirteen years later, the issue has only worsened. A 2024 survey reveals twenty-two per cent of Americans have experienced severe online harassment in the past year. LGBTQ+ people are the most likely minority group to be targeted with online harassment and hate speech. Additionally, the misuse of slurs online results in an increase in violence towards minorities in the physical world, according to VPN and cybersecurity expert Aimee O’Driscoll.

Reclaimed Slurs Or Internet Slang?

Reclaimed slurs are all over the internet. Take a look at Facebook, X or Instagram.

Rallying cries of ‘We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it’ paved the way for the young LGBT+ people to identify with the powerful umbrella term. Reclamation of the pejorative began in the 1970s.

Today, the word possesses liberating connotations for most LGBTQ+ people. This is despite the discrimination and suffering that the term has historically caused.

However, when does use of a reclaimed slur become internet slang?

Reclaimed slurs lose their meaning when these terms are inappropriately used in different contexts. This reduces powerful language to slang and wrongfully encourages others to misuse pejorative terms. Many cisgender heterosexual people on X are now using slurs like ‘f*ggot’ or ‘tr*nny’ and think it is okay to do so.

Reclamation Or Exploitation?

To understand whether slurs are being reclaimed or exploited, we need to consider the context. This includes who is using them, who they are directed towards and the overarching emotion surrounding the interaction.

Academic Mihaela Popa-Wyatt defines ‘reclamation’ as “taking back control by targets of words used to attack them”. For reclamation to occur, a minority group re-appropriates language which has historically been used against them in an offensive manner. The language empowers them and encourages a sense of collective protest in response to ‘minority stress’.

LGBT+ individuals at a Pride parade carrying signs inscribed with ‘we’re here, we’re queer, get used to it’ is an example of reclamation.

However, if the context of the word shifts to one of hostility, reclamation of the term becomes exploitation. A homophobic passer-by at the same Pride parade using the term in a derogatory manner is exploiting the term for their own bigoted use. They are using the term inappropriately and in its original exploitative, harmful manner.

How To Use Reclaimed Slurs

While posting your thoughts and opinions online, be respectful with the language you use. It’s important to be mindful of every message you send or post that you upload. These can be traced directly back to you.

Your ‘digital footprint’ consists of your online activity. Whatever you post online could potentially be traced back to you. Prospective employers run searches on job applicants’ social media accounts. This is another reason to make sure you’re always using the internet in a mindful and respectful way.

“As a member of a majority group, there are some slurs you should avoid entirely”

You can be mindful of the language that you are using by making sure you are not describing someone else with language they do not describe themselves with. Unless an individual has stated that they use the term ‘queer’ to describe themselves, you should avoid this word when referring to them.

Never use reclaimed slurs in a derogatory manner or hostile context. This may cause offence to the individual you are directing the term at and falsely signal to others they can use the slur inappropriately. Reclaimed slurs have rich histories of linguistic re-appropriation. They should never be slang terms for everyone to use.

Be mindful of the fact that, as a member of a majority group, there are some slurs you should avoid entirely. It doesn’t matter if they are ‘reclaimed’ by the minority groups they refer to. These include offensive racial slurs, slurs targeting those with disabilities and outdated derogatory terms for LGBT+ people.

It’s Time To Touch Grass

Consider taking a short break from the internet if you’re in a negative headspace. This ensures you won’t act impulsively and post potentially offensive messages.

Make sure you upload messages and posts  with kind and respectful intentions. And if you see someone else using a slur inappropriately, be an upstander, not a bystander. Call out those who are exploiting reclaimed slurs for wrongful use.

We all have our own part to play. We must ensure the internet is a safe, welcoming and respectful space for discussions.

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help and support is available:

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Featured image courtesy of Derick Anies via Unsplash. No changes made to this image. Image license found here.

Mia Bladon is a third-year English Literature student studying at the University of York. Mia is a passionate and dedicated journalist who writes regularly for local and national publications, and she is currently the Features Editor of a York student publication. Mia's journalistic interests include wellbeing and mental health, intersectional feminism, LGBTQIA+ topics and current affairs, feature articles, and fun pop quizzes. Mia is also a dancer. She trains and performs in a multitude of dance styles in her spare time. As well as this, Mia performs her own original poetry at open mics. Mia loves cats and can't wait to have her very own feline friend in the future.

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