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Is there a word to describe the process, or result of the process of, an offended group reclaiming a word for themselves. For example, it is common for gay people to call themselves queers, or sexually liberated women to call themselves sluts, or black people to refer to themselves by various offensive terms.

I seem to remember there is a term for this process. Wikipedia suggests "reappropriation" but I seem to remember there is a more specific term.

Fraser Orr
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    Double standard? – jeremy Jan 06 '13 at 05:54
  • Reclaim as in {Take Back the Night / Reclaim the Night}? –  Jan 06 '13 at 06:16
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    @Nile this isn't a political forum, it is a forum about words and grammar. – Fraser Orr Jan 06 '13 at 06:16
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    Double standard is a legitimate lexical answer, except that it's two words instead of one. That it's also judgmental is a bonus. :-) –  Jan 06 '13 at 06:18
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    @BillFranke sorry I don't agree. "Double standard" is a judgement of the legitimacy of the process, it is not a name for the process of reclamation at all. It is consequentially political not linguistical. – Fraser Orr Jan 06 '13 at 07:00
  • Yes, it is a judgment about legitimacy, but I see nothing wrong with that. Human beings constantly judge themselves & others. What's the difference between gay people calling themselves "queer" & women calling themselves "sluts" (a recent reclamation in response to the Sandra Fluke/Rush Limbaugh to-do in the USA)? The point of using these words is either to hurt other people or to defuse the pain of the epithet by making it a commonplace expression, unless it's stipulated "a name I can call myself because I am one, but you can't because you aren't". That deserves judgment, IMHO. –  Jan 06 '13 at 07:18
  • @BillFranke there is certainly nothing wrong with judgement in the appropriate forum. And FWIW, in language, context is crucial to the meaning of words. It is certainly true that some words are acceptable in some contexts and not in others, and who is speaking the words most certainly in included in that context. – Fraser Orr Jan 07 '13 at 00:40
  • I agree that double standard is not the answer but I disagree that it is a political phrase. It is commonly used to describe a situation where different standards are applied to different people, groups, members, etc. By applying different rules or standards to my children I am applying a double standard. That is hardly political, since they are only seven. – Reginald Steggles Nov 08 '16 at 16:38

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Reappropriation is defintely the best word I've come across for this but there's no term which is commonly used so writing when that 'feminism is a reappropriation', you would probably need to elaborate by stating 'from the pejorative term assigned to women's right acitvists in the 18th century'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reappropriation - Supports the use of the term in a specific manner.

Niklas Dane
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