Beyoncé amidst criticism by disability charities and activists over a lyric which they consider “ableist” and “offensive”, Rihanna has decided to remove them from her new album Renaissance. In the song Heated, Rihanna had apparently used “ spaz”, a derogatory word for Sphastic Diplegia. Sphastic Diplegia is a form of Cerebral Palsy. Rihanna had co-written the song with the Canadian rapper Drake. The lyrics were: “ Spazzin on that ass, spazz on that ass”.
Her representative says that the Rihanna will change the lyric. “ The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced”.
Lizzo too like Beyoncé was Called Out for the Same Term
This June, activists called out US musician Lizzo for using the same term in the song Grrls. The song is part of her special album Special. After much criticism Lizzo apologized, took back and replaced the lyrics. She never wanted to promote “derogatory language.”
“As a fat black woman in America, I’ve had many hurtful words used against me So I understand the power words can have”, she said.
The Australian writer and disability advocate Hannah Diviney was the first one to call Lizzo out. After Beyoncé’s kerfuffle, Diviney later wrote I thought we’d changed the music industry and started a “global” conversation about why ableist language-has no place in the music. But I guess I was wrong. Beyoncé’s commitment to music did not excuse her of ableist language-language that gets used and ignored too often.
UK Charitable NGO Initially Called out Beyoncé, Later Praised Her
The UK Disability Charity NGO Sense was among the groups to call Rihanna out. It tweeted: “It was disappointing that another artist is using an offensive term in their song so soon after it was pointed out how hurtful the word is.” The group soon called for “more education to improve awareness of disability”.
The NGO later praised her for agreeing to alter the lyrics. “Beyoncé has a history of championing inclusivity. We are happy that she listened to feedback and agreed to re-record the lyric that many people find offensive. Also, we recognize that the word was not intentionally used to cause harm, but words have power and reinforce negative attitudes marginal groups face. Thus, we thank Beyoncé for listening and look forward to getting on with enjoying the record”, it said.
While most of the American newspapers and portals have so mentioned the word, UK based newspaper The Guardian has refrained from writing the word. According to the paper, the term is offensive in UK. In 2003, it placed second in a BBC survey on “most offensive terms related to the disabled. This shows that shifting cultural attitudes in different places in the west may render one term offensive somewhere, while it is more common elsewhere. And musicians will have to ford these rivers carefully.
(Inputs, the Guardian, ABC News)
