Judith, if you know the NE Fremont area, the shop I danced at is Shop Adorn. You should check them out. And they are online available as well.
Thanks artwoman! I get over that way with some regularity for appointments at Working Class Acupuncture---A real boon, if you haven't discovered them. $15-35 sliding scale. Wonderful, skilled practitioners and an atmosphere imbued with kindness and compassion. They are at 57th just off Fremont.....
I was a Diabetic at age 3 and by the looks of it(no cure in sight), I'll be a Diabetic when I die. I do not plan on changing that adjective. It is ingrained in me. I am also Arthritic and Asthmatic. These words are adjectives not insults. I do not mind using the medical terms or some different descriptive words in certain cases.
Exactly. But you aren't "An" Arthritic or "An" Asthmatic. I've been active on this discussion and I guess it boils down to not wanting to be labeled. Soome I can't avoid, like I'm "A" female - its kinda obvious. I still don't like old school assumptions about women, but short of wearing a big refridgerator box, I'm not gonna avoid those .I prefer being described by using verbs - I paint, I tap dance, or adjectives I'm funny, I'm diabetic. But "A' anything.
Since my diagnosis at age 9, I haven't minded how people refer to the fact that I have diabetes -- but the truth is that most people don't, despite the fact that I can regularly be seen testing my blood glucose level, fiddling with my pump, or casting an eye on my CGM.
Something I find interesting though, is that when referring to my own condition, I used to tell people, "I have diabetes" or "I am diabetic." Now that I have reached my 30s, I find myself qualifying that, saying, "I have Type 1 diabetes. I do so not so much to avoid being shamed by the ignorant -- thought there is that -- but to avoid the onslaught of advice on how to "cure" myself.
I once mentioned to a co-worker -- a nutritionist by training -- that I have diabetes.
"Have you tried cinnamon?" he said. "ALA? CLA? Turmeric? CoQ10?"
"No, no --" I said. "I have Type 1."
"Oh," he thought for a second. "Well -- you're screwed."
I could only laugh at that, because really, what other response is there?
Now this I actually agree with. Because, to me, adding "a" or "the" (in the case of something like "the disabled") before an adjective seems to lump people in that category into one group, which I DO have a problem with. I have no problem with "I'm diabetic" but I have never used or liked the term "I'm a diabetic," although I think a lot of people use those interchangeably.
And now that I read your other comment on the last page, and came back to this one, if "a" is the subject of the entire discussion (rather than "I have diabetes" versus "I'm diabetic") then I may have completely missed the point. And if that's the case, then I agree, I don't like "I'm a _____" or "the _____" because it lumps everyone who belongs to that category into one homogenous group, which I don't think is ture of any group of people.
That's been my point all along. But... I don't write as eloquently as you do so it took me many posts to get the point across!
Yes Zoe!
I AM a type 1 diabetic, and I AM suffering from it!
To me the offence is only if it intended as an offence. I too would be upset if someone would refer to me negatively by saying "he is a diabetic" or even "he has diabetes." I don't think that it is the wording. I see no difference. It is the intent behind the wording. I am not unhappy with the word diabetic. It is a perfectly good word.
On the other hand, I do agree that a campaign to change language or views, can make the derogatory thinking more obvious so that some people may become more aware of what they are thinking, but I suspect that once a person has a derogatory view it just becomes unsaid. What they really think does change that easily. That, sadly, takes a generation if not more.
As an aside, I grew up with cancer in the 1950's. It was used as a negative, and it was a negative (most people died), but there was no special word. I just had cancer. It was something to avoid and some people were leery of me because I had cancer. There was no support. I was just different and it was limiting. It defined my life. Applying for a job? The question was there. Joining the military? Impossible! Applying for life insurance? Denied!
Even when I introduced my girlfriend to my mother she took her aside and told her about my cancer and that I was not expected to live out a full life. Fortunately, I had already told my girlfriend about it and we got married several weeks later.
I should have thought of myself as a cancer survivor, but that term had not come into use. I also don't think that 'cancer survivor' is entirely accurate. It upsets me every time I hear that someone is fighting a valiant, if not heroic, fight against cancer. Even today, I just say that I had cancer. It is always a part of me. Any ache, pain, swelling, or spot brings it back. Oh no! Do I have cancer again?