[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Judy Kuster
Date: 07 Oct 2010
Time: 15:16:12 -0500
Remote Name: 76.17.183.48
Hi Ed! I also heard Fefe Dobson's song when it first came out - she was offering free downloads. And yes, I also find it really inappropriate to stereotype a person who stutters in the way she does. I think it perpetuates a negative image and it hurtful especially to teens who stutter when their peers like the song and could potentially use it to tease them about their stuttering. I'm not sure I feel so strongly about the term "stuttering" or "stutter" in conversational usage - you mean like football players who "stutter-step" or when a recording/disk "stutters," right? Most Google alerts I receive use the term like that in fact. But language can be hurtful, and if it is hurtful, people should respect that. I'm on a list about Down syndrome and the hurtful term that causes so much anger on that list is what they refer to as "the R word" (retarded). Some are also very sensitive of using person first language (e.g. person with Down syndrome). For your own interest, you might want to check a site on the Stuttering Home Page where I have collected information about songs about stuttering (http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/media/songs.html). Some actually help people understand stuttering, others make fun of stuttering by mimicking, a few portray inappropriate stereotypes, and many examples simply have the word "stuttering" in them or use repetitions for the rhythm of the song (as my son explains, "A type of music, called minimalism, frequently relies on repetition of a few elements over a long time." Judy