Pride
hubris - black pride - gay pride - narcissism
Definition
In Christian dogma, pride (or vanity) is excessive belief in one's own abilities, that interferes with the individual's recognition of the grace of God. It has been called the sin from which all others arise. Pride is listed as one of the seven deadly sins, as superbia.
Pride is also condemned in Hinduism. Ravana, an evil king who was killed by Rama, avatar of Vishnu, exhibited deadly sins of pride and lust.
In English, the term "pride" also has a more positive sense referring to self-respect, a refusal to be humiliated (such as in Lesbian and Gay pride) as well as joy in one's accomplishments. In this sense, "pride" is among the most-quoted themes of political and societal discourse of English-speaking nations, especially of the USA. This stands in some contrast to that nation's general image of itself as a mostly Christian society.
Secondary pride is a little-known but often felt variant of pride. The pride you feel for what your ancestors, your children, your country or your football team have done is classified as secondary pride.
Some languages distinguish between the two senses of pride; in French, self-respect is fierté and vanity is orgueuil.
Arrogance is the act of obtaining rights or advantages, including merely rhetorical advantages, through violence or threats of violence, or through verbal violence. Arrogance is as much an aspect of aggression as it is of pretension, which is unwarranted pride. An arrogant person is not merely unjustifiably confident in their own ability and value, but one actively seeking to cow or belittle other "lesser" people in order to achieve their ends. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride [Apr 2005]
Reclaimed words
Queer: a reclaimed word:
A reclaimed word is a word that was formerly used solely as a slur but that has been semantically overturned by members of the maligned group, who use it as a term of defiant pride. Queer is an example of a word undergoing this process. For decades queer was used solely as a derogatory adjective for gays and lesbians, but in the 1980s the term began to be used by gay and lesbian activists as a term of self-identification. Eventually, it came to be used as an umbrella term that included gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people.
Nevertheless, a sizable percentage of people to whom this term might apply still hold queer to be a hateful insult, and its use by heterosexuals is often considered offensive. Similarly, other reclaimed words are usually offensive to the in-group when used by outsiders, so extreme caution must be taken concerning their use when one is not a member of the group.
The American Heritage® Dictionary
To reclaim a term is the political process and strategy consisting in re-evaluating and re-appropriating terms that in the dominant culture are used to oppress minorities. Similar to the 'pride' movements, this process differs because of its provocative elements: derogatory terms come to acquire positive meaning in the tight circle of the literati, while they keep their negative connotations outside of it. Michel Foucault discusses this idea as a 'reverse discourse' in his History of Sexuality: Volume I.
The use of these terms by people who are not members of that group tends to remain viewed as strongly derogatory.
Reclaimed words include
- 'Nigger' by the black movement
- 'Bitch', 'cunt' and 'feminazi' by the feminist movement
- 'Slut', and 'slag' by promiscuous, sexual liberation, polygamous and polyamorous affiliates.
- 'Dyke', 'poof', 'queer', and 'faggot' by the LGBT movements
- 'Tranny' by the transgender and transsexual rights movements
- 'Crip' and 'gimp' by people with disabilities
- 'Redneck' by southern political movements, especially conservative movements
- 'Jesus freak' by Christians, and especially Christian teens
Anarchism as reclaimed term
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (January 15, 1809 - January 19, 1865) was a French anarchist of the 19th century. Born in Besançon, Doubs, France, he is most famous for asserting "Property is theft", in his missive What is Property? Or, an Inquiry into the Principle of Right of Government. In the same book, he became the first person to call himself an anarchist, a word which had previously been used as a term of abuse during the French Revolution. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proudhon [Oct 2004]
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