Trope names with outdated and/or offensive language

I note that Idiot Savant may need to b renamed anyway since, as noted in the thread for The Rain Man, it is frequently confused with Genius Ditz.

Brought here by mightymewtron. As someone who is LGBT, I really think Fag Hag should be changed since the usage of a slur in the title just really puts me off.

Fag Hag is a term invented by the gay community several decades ago. I get the discomfort but I don't think there's a widespread alternative that conveys the idea of the trope. There are alternate terms but most aren't very clear. Plus the N-Word Privileges that are usually present in its context are obviously not available to everybody on this site.

Edited by mightymewtron on Feb 8th 2021 at 11:25:39 AM

Of the linked list, the only ones I'd even consider are Flame Dame and maybe Gayboy Bunny. Everything else either has the same possibly-offensive-language problem as Fag Hag or is too obviously unclear.

And Flame Dame could be easily mistaken as a lady with flame powers or something.

To me, "Gayboy Bunny" is more clever but equally uncomfortable since that's also a pejorative. I don't really like any of the names but I'd grudgingly side with the one with established precedent.

Maybe Fag Hag should have the name explained in the description, at least to prove we didn't invent it.

Good idea.

Well, it does dive into people's reactions to the term, but it should at least be clarified that it was made by the gay community and why it was coined.

Has Genius Cripple been brought up yet? “Cripple” is generally considered to be a slur towards disabled people, and the fact that the page image is of a real person only makes it worse. It doesn’t have the excuse of being a preexisting term either, unlike Magical Negro or Fag Hag.

Edited by jandn2014 on Feb 14th 2021 at 8:38:56 AM

Could easily be named Handicapped Genius as a counterpart to Handicapped Badass.

Considering the trope name received a complaint in 2013, a year in which I thought people were still slightly accepting of terms considered offensive nowadays, maybe.

Would benefit from the I-don't-know-what-it's-called descriptor swap where the main term becomes "Genius", not "Handicapped".

Funny people were talking about the disabled.

Someone in a (now-locked) TRS thread suggested that Handicapped Badass should be renamed, because the term Handicapped is seen as quite insulting.

Edited by callmeamuffin on Feb 21st 2021 at 6:37:14 AM

"Cripple" I can quasi-understand as it received complaints approx. eight years ago, but complaining about "Handicapped" feels like going too far, I literally haven't heard anyone say that the word is offensive before or on that trope's discussion.

Edited by Piterpicher on Feb 20th 2021 at 12:27:52 PM

I kinda do agree with that too. I'm pretty neutral towards this trope being renamed.

I understand them too. We're currently in the 2020s, and practically any term could become insulting.

Edited by callmeamuffin on Feb 21st 2021 at 6:36:59 AM

I've heard people disapprove of handicapped, but I don't remember why. It's not a slur as far as I know?

I wouldn't be opposed to making Disabled Badass the main name instead of a redirect but I think the current's clearer.

I am absolutely on board with eliminating hate speech and dog whistle words from our vocabularies, but I also understand why people would get annoyed when it seems like there's a new banned word every week.

If the words are being used hatefully or out of context, that's one thing, but "handicapped" is being used exactly in its intended meaning here.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 20th 2021 at 2:24:40 PM

I actually agree—I have Asperger's and I don't consider "handicapped" particularly offensive. I think we can keep that name.

My immediately thought was,holy shit we actually have a trope named Magical Negro

The difference there is that the trope was deliberately named that by Spike Lee, actually, as a deliberate reference to the racist undertones present in the trope. Lee loathed the trope, and movies like The Green Mile and The Legend of Bagger Vance that used it. The trope name was a reference to the idea that the black characters that fit the trope seem to be there only for the white character to gain something. That trope name can stay IMO because it was intended to demonstrate the societal issues with the trope.

I was just noting my shock at the name,but yeah,withouting peeking I'm guessing the wick count is going to be in the thousands,I could be wrong though

Its also probably really awkward explaining the name to someone who has never heard of Spike lee

Edited by Ultimatum on Feb 20th 2021 at 12:01:34 PM

Right. Same with Fag Hag. It's slang from within the gay community, and pokes some fun at the issues with the trope.

Well, that's why we have descriptions to mention the Trope Namer.

Edited by mightymewtron on Feb 20th 2021 at 7:05:23 AM

Lee named it, but the term is actually otherwise fairly well-documented and well-used outside this wiki.

And who knows, you might be talking to someone who speaks Spanish.

Ah, OK. I misremembered what I read about the term. Sorry about that.