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 Or a canon that uses outdated terms like cripple?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

[jadelennox]

(in my answers below, "you" is rhetorical -- I'm not actually saying that you chordatesrock would do any of these things!)

1. If the canon is offensive, I might write a fixit, or I might just avoid doing the offensive thing, depending on the story. So, for example, I might write a story about how the character with a disability is a lot more competent/human/worthwhile (or less super-crip/beautiful in their suffering/magically healed/disabled for REASONS/hurt-comforty) than they are in canon. Alternately, I might just avoid the whole problem and write about those issues (e.g. not incorporating descriptions of fatness or disability). But I will never buy into canon problems of that type IF I see them.
2. I am with the other people here about language. If I think the language is accurate and appropriate, then I will use it and possibly warn, although as some others have said, there are words I will not use. That being said, again as others have said, "cripple" no more gives an accurate old-timey feel than random sexism does, especially in a completely fantasy world. If you want to use offensive terms, do your research and see how people in that context the parent if it was real) actually discussed disabilities of those types. And if it is a fantasy world, why can you have a completely fantastic world with different geography and magic or what have you, but can't imagine another way of looking about disability?
3. if you want to reclaim language which is not used to apply to you, be very, very, very careful. I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, but maybe get a large number of beta readers to whom it does apply. If the particular character canonically uses reclaimed language, of course you should use it, although again do so carefully.
4. the last question is a big old it depends, of course. But keep in mind that there is a difference between how the characters talk about themselves and how the fic overall leads the readers to think.