"(Not) Bad Words"

(NOT) BAD WORDS

By Tessa Denton

"What does "BAD" mean?

BAD. adj.

1. Not good; not as it should be; defective in quality; below standard; lacking in worth.

2. Unfit; unskilled.

3. Unfavorable; unpleasant; disagreeable.

4. Rotted; decomposed; spoiled.

5. Incorrect; faulty; erroneous.

6. Wicked; immoral.

7. Harmful; injurious; dangerous.

8. Severe.

9. Ill; in poor health; in pain.

10. Bothered; sorry; distressed.

11. Offensive; disgusting.

12. In law, defective; not valid; void.

GAY. adj.

1. Not an insult; not a choice; not shameful; not a bad word.

2. An identity; a community; normal.

FAT. adj.

1. Not an insult; not an indicator of health; not a synonym for ugly; not a bad word.

2. A physical descriptor; inherently neutral; ordinary.

DISABLED. adj.

1. Not helpless; not shocking; not something one can ascribe morality to; not a bad word.

2. An experience; a state of being; a community; neutral.

BLACK. adj./noun

1. Not inferior; not an insult; not written with a lowercase “B”; not a bad word.

2. An identity; a culture; a community; a history; humanizing.

QUEER. adj.

1. Not an insult; not freakish; not broken; not a bad word.

2. An identity; a community; an umbrella term; freeing.

PERIOD. noun

1. Not gross; not shameful; not something to hide; not experienced by exclusively cis women; not a bad word.

2. An experience; a process; normal.

Use the FUCKING words.

You don’t get to decide how to describe communities that you are not a part of.

Use the words those communities give you.

2022