When I asked who Lizzo was, I was informed that she was “body positive” black woman singer whose hallmarks were “twerking” and calling people “bitches.” But even LIzzo has limits,apparently.
As a fat Black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me so I overstand the power words can have (whether intentionally or in my case, unintentionally,)” she continued. “I’m proud to say there’s a new version of GRRRLS with a lyric change. This is the result of me listening and taking action. As an influential artist I’m dedicated to being part of the change I’ve been waiting to see in the world.
The original version of GRRRLS did not go as well as Lizzo expected.
Lizzo released the single, the second off her sophomore album Special, last Friday, but instead of a rapturous response, the song was quickly lambasted for one of its lyrics.
“Hold my bag, bitch,” the song goes, with Lizzo singing over a Beastie Boys sample. “Hold my bag/ Do you see this s—?/ I’m a sp-z/ I’m about to knock somebody out/ Yo, where my best friend?/ She the only one I know to talk me off the deep end.”
The word giving rise to offence is “spaz,” apparently so bad that it can’t even be spelled out in a story about it. The problem arose when someone twitted at Lizzo that she was offended by her use of the word “spaz.” The word “bitch” is still perfectly acceptable, of course.
Hey @lizzo my disability Cerebral Palsy is literally classified as Spastic Diplegia (where spasticity refers to unending painful tightness in my legs) your new song makes me pretty angry + sad. ‘Spaz’ doesn’t mean freaked out or crazy. It’s an ableist slur. It’s 2022. Do better.
— Hannah Diviney (@hannah_diviney) June 12, 2022
After this twit came a flood of people who didn’t want to be complicit in Lizzo’s ableisst slur by not attacking Lizzo for uttering it. Lizzo, of course, capitulated, apologized and removed the word from her song.
“It’s been brought to my attention that there is a harmful word in my new song ‘GRRRLS,'” she shared in a Twitter post. “Let me make one thing clear: I never want to promote derogatory language.”
Was the word derogatory, or did one person with cerebral palsy take offense because of her particular sensitivity? Perhaps ironically, words denigrating people who suffer from debilitating disease or disability strike me as more worthy of challenge than others. Would you make fun of a person who had Down Syndrome or Fragile X Syndrome? Why would cerebral palsy be any different?
But the fact that spasticity is a component of CP isn’t what people tend to think about when someone uses the word “spaz,” which is generally taken to mean uncoordinated or having lost physical or emotional control. In other words, it’s no reflection on people with CP at all, except that the word, with a shift in slangish spelling, is also one related to Cerebral Palsy.
Does that make “spaz” taboo? While Lizzo is, of course, free to change her lyrics at her whim, was her use of the word “spaz” promoting derogatory language, for if so, then it suggests that anyone using the word in the future, after this “influential artist” has condemned the word, is being “ableist” and the word is now on the “hate speech” list of words that can never be uttered?
It’s hard to say with any certainty what words, or how many words, will be deemed to offend someone, no matter how the word is intended or used. It’s one thing to draw the line at the “n-word,” even if it, like “bitches,” is permissible for people of a certain demographic but not others. But “spaz”? Where does the line get drawn? How many people need to be offended for a word to be sufficiently hurtful that its use is no longer tolerable, or indicative of its user being an evil person?
And to put this into somewhat greater focus, note that the inclusion of the word “women” is fast becoming hate speech as excluding transgender people. Perhaps you agree that Lizzo’s use of “spaz” was needlessly derogatory, or that she’s entitled to adapt to whatever her fans demand of her, but what does that mean for the permissible language rest of us, assuming that we’re not trying to intentionally offend anyone, but might not be aware of the forbidden word of the day?
*Tuesday Talk rules apply, bitch.
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