We all know words can be used as weapons against us, but how do we take back these words, reclaim them for ourselves? Is reclaiming language a social change action? Who gets to reclaim which words? That is, how do race, gender and sexuality shape efforts to reclaim words? "Reclaiming Language" visits this tricky territory of words and actions -- looking at all sides of the argument and who gets to reclaim which words.
References
Beard, M. (2014). The public voice of women. LBR, 36(6), 1-17.
Browman, N. & Braem, M. (2019). Amplify: Graphic narratives of feminist resistance. University of Toronto Press.
Collins, P. H. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Routledge.
Cooper, B. (2016). Intersectionality. In L. Disch & M. Hawkesworth, The Oxford handbook of feminist theory (pp. 385-406). Oxford University Press. Doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328581.013.20
D’Ignazio, C. & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data feminism. The MIT Press.
Gregoire, C. (2017, February 10). The psychological power of reclaiming oppressive language. Huffpost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/psychology-reclaiming-language_n_589c96bde4b04061313bf423
Harker, J. & Konchar Farr, C. (2016). This book is an action: Feminist print culture and activist aesthetics. University of Illinois Press.
Herbert, C. Precarious projects: The performative structure of reclamation. Language Sciences, 52, 131-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2015.05.002
Kendall, M. (2020). Hood feminism: Notes from the women that a movement forgot. Penguin Random House.
Law, E. (2018, April 28). 10 English words that have completely changed in meaning. Culture Trip. https://theculturetrip.com/europe/articles/10-english-words-that-have-completely-changed-meaning/
Manne, K. (2018). Down girl: The logic of misogyny. Oxford University Press.
Neal, M. (2012, July, 19). Take it back: 5 steps to reclaim a dirty name. Good. https://www.good.is/articles/take-it-back-5-steps-to-reclaim-a-dirty-name
Rosario, I. & Smith, W. (2018, April 8). Point/Counterpoint: Should we reclaim slurs? The Daily Iowan. https://dailyiowan.com/2018/04/09/point-counterpoint-should-we-reclaim-slurs/
Smith, A. M. (2016) Subjectivity and subjectivation. In L. Disch & M. Hawkesworth, The Oxford handbook of feminist theory (pp. 955-972). Oxford University Press. Doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328581.001.0001.
Stone-Mediatore, S. Storytelling/narrative. In L. Disch & M. Hawkesworth, The Oxford handbook of feminist theory. (pp. 934-954). Oxford University Press. Doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328581.013.46.
Van Weele, C. (2018, November 7). Reclaiming slurs is a form of resisting oppression. The Daily Aztec. https://thedailyaztec.com/reclaiming-slurs-is-a-form-of-resisting-oppression/
