Several questions about language

[chordatesrock]

I have a few questions I was hoping for some input on. They're all sort of related.

First, how do you handle fics set in canons that do offensive things? Like a canon that uses a character being fat and disabled as a shorthand for the character's moral decay? Or a canon that uses outdated terms like cripple?

Second, what do you usually do about language in canons where you don't know what the characters use? It seems like a lot of fantasy writing likes to use the word cripple to give it an old-timey feel. Do you think that's a harmful pattern? Do you prefer to have characters use the language you prefer people to use in real life? Do you choose solely based on plausibility?

Third, I have two similar but distinct questions about reclaimed language. First, if you're writing a character with a disability you don't share, is it problematic to write about the character reclaiming slurs that don't apply to you? And second, when people in real-life self-identify using reclaimed slurs that don't apply to you, is it better to refer to them that way or to use uncontroversial language?

Fourth and finally, what do you do about non-reclaimed slurs characters apply to themselves or deliberately reject for themselves? For instance, is the line "he wasn't hearing things, he wasn't crazy, he just had [people] talking in his head" problematic in itself or does it depend on what else is in the fic?

Comments

[sqbr]

I agree with staranise in the broad strokes, but tend to err more towards not using slurs if I can. The way I see it: you make all sorts of choices with a story, choosing a plot that makes it exciting, dialogue that is engaging and expressive and maybe funny etc. This almost always involves fudging or at least picking and choosing from reality/canon. Obviously there are limits, but within those limits, why not make "not adding to the oppression/pain my readers experience" as much a priority as thrills/romance etc? Especially with oppressions I don't experience myself, since it's way too easy to underestimate how much they ruin a story for people who do experience them.

So when I write dialogue and the character says a slur in my head, I try and think of an equally (or almost equally) in character line with the same meaning that doesn't use the slur. Because why not? If they really wouldn't ever express that meaning any other way, then I keep it, but if I can I try and have the narrative poke at their usage.

That said: I'm mostly writing self indulgent somewhat cracky fanfic, if I'm going to have silly slightly 4th wall breaking jokes I don't think it damages the story to also have slightly 4th wall breaking criticism of canon prejudice. If you're writing super realistic fiction you won't be able to get away with it so easily.

I have more to say but have run out of mental energy! It is complicated, and I don't think there's any one right answer.

[staranise]

I totally get this. I've also been thinking that the right answer changes over time and in context.

That said: I'm mostly writing self indulgent somewhat cracky fanfic

Yeah, genre definitely counts too. I tend to write things with guns and explosions and traditional masculinity, like westerns and milsf, and unless I just whitewash my experiences completely I'm stuck with some objectionable content.

I totally do fudge/clean up some stuff for my audience, like toning down the speech of people who realistically would be turning the air blue. But the more I trace back how I got to my position, I think I did take a lot of time to decide that I wanted to get into conversation with those icky bits, like my setting's implicit biases. A lot of what I try to do is get alternate points of view on socially-sanctioned stories. A historian-friend reminds me that in every era, there were people who questioned the icky stuff going on. In every culture, there are people who stick out. I like finding them.

It's definitely hard, though. I step on feet. I have to track back and put up trigger warnings because someone goes "Uh..." and I really had to learn from my mistakes. Some people have taken a real dislike to some of my characters. I'm lucky to have a diverse group of betas, so I get a lot of different points of view over troubling aspects. I also know this is a decision I've made since going on antidepressants and gaining a lot more mental spoons. When I was depressed and it felt like one little mistake would crush me, I stayed a lot further away from problematic things in my stories.

[chordatesrock]

Thanks, both of you. That conversation's helpful.

[jesse_the_k]

But the more I trace back how I got to my position, I think I did take a lot of time to decide that I wanted to get into conversation with those icky bits, like my setting's implicit biases.

And if canon includes bias and language that makes you feel oppressed/angry/uncomfortable, it's possible for OCs to directly challenge that in fic.

[chordatesrock]

That's a really cool idea.

[sqbr]

But the more I trace back how I got to my position, I think I did take a lot of time to decide that I wanted to get into conversation with those icky bits, like my setting's implicit biases. A lot of what I try to do is get alternate points of view on socially-sanctioned stories. A historian-friend reminds me that in every era, there were people who questioned the icky stuff going on. In every culture, there are people who stick out. I like finding them.

Oh, me too! I have lots of prejudice in my stories, and working through how characters deal with it (as both oppressor and oppressed) is really valuable to me. But I tend to avoid slurs which will offend my readers (rather than attitudes which affect the characters) because they can ruin an otherwise enjoyable story for some people.

I had a ponder about why I take this approach after getting your comment, and I think it's because I don't actually tend to find slurs very upsetting myself(*), and so since I can't judge very well how they'll affect the people who are upset by them I just avoid the problem all together.

(*)I mean if someone called me a cripple as an insult I'd be upset, but not much more than I would be if they called me a "useless wheelchair user" as an insult. It's not the individual words that are the problem for me, it's the intent. Or maybe there just aren't any really nasty slurs for any groups I'm in, I'm not sure.