What happens if you're called an idiot?
The consequences for being called an idiot in present time are drastically different to consequences of being classified as an idiot during the early 1900’s. In my case, if I were to call my brother an idiot, it wouldn’t affect him very much. He could take offense to it in the worst case scenarios but most likely he might laugh or just continue doing his idiotic actions. However, if you were categorized as an idiot around 1909, there was a very good chance you could have been sterilized. This sterilization came about from the Eugenics Movement. The Eugenics movement was a pseudoscience that determined that all people were different from the Nordic stereotype were unfit and should be wiped out (Black). This movement was enforced by mandatory sterilization of people with disabilities. These people were disabled because of mental illness or because they were a part of a socially disadvantaged group (Kaelber). People that were labeled idiots fell under these categories. If you were an idiot in the early 20th century you could have been institutionalized and or forcibly sterilized so you couldn’t pass your genes on to offspring. Being an idiot then affected your whole life, whereas now, you forget you’re called it in less than 5 minutes.
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This section provides a case of idiot being used in society today This section gives two different perspectives on the word idiot. To learn more about the current definition check out the Oxford English Dictionary segment or to learn more about the psychological meaning look for the Dictionary.com page. On this page you'll find information about when idiot is used and how. You're on this page now. Here you'll find a list of my sources. |