Ten years ago was the first time I wrote something about some so-called celebrity making a thoughtless comment about diabetes. That’s right, that piece was written in 2011.
And yesterday, my Twitter feed was lit up with people commenting on some bloke on TV in the UK who made a stigmatising comment about diabetes, because of course that’s what people with unsophisticated senses of humour do at Easter time.
I muted a heap of terms because I couldn’t be bothered reading the replies. Why? Because I’d read them all before. I’d probably written a few of them myself.
I have nothing more to write, because I have written about this countless times. Diabetes bloggers and advocates who have been around the traps for longer than me have written about it countless times. We’ve seen it all before. We’ve said it all before. For ten years I’ve been banging on about it. Welcome to the table if you’re joining in now!
Here is what I wrote in this post, after a cafe named one of their wonderfully decadent desserts ‘diabetes’, because, haha, how funny, no one has EVER made a joke like that before:
‘But there is definitely room for a discussion about why diabetes continues to be seen as fodder for bad jokes, and mindless behaviour like this. Until we get the language about diabetes right, this will continue to happen. Again. And again. And again. That is the discussion I’m interesting in having now.’
I may be done writing critiques of B (C, D, E) – list celebrities being stigmatising jerks about diabetes. But I am not done talking about language. THAT is the issue here. For as long as diabetes is seen as an easy punchline; as long as people with diabetes are seen as an easy target; as long as diabetes is considered a lazy condition that deserves no understanding, this is going to keep on happening.
More? Oh, there’s plenty more…
The time (alleged) comedian Dave Hughes made a joke about diabetes.
The time Jame Oliver called a Coke can diabetes.
The time a cafe named a dessert diabetes.
The time the CrossFit CEO made a stigmatising comment about diabetes.
3 comments
Comments feed for this article
April 6, 2021 at 6:21 pm
Martin Scivier
Included in a tweet today by Partha Karr. Name checks you. Thank you Martin.
https://www.languagemattersdiabetes.com/
LikeLiked by 2 people
April 7, 2021 at 12:27 pm
Rick Phillips
Oh heck you missed my high school math teacher. Here’s Rick aka Mr Cupcake. Did mommy figure out to stop feeding them to you yet?
Hmm, yeah Ass Hole she did. When did you stop eating lard lunch?
Yeah there was conversations about suspensions. Both of us had the chat.
LikeLike
April 13, 2021 at 5:45 am
Zoe Heineman
Hey Renza, Thank you for your 10+ years of ongoing work regarding language matters around diabetes. Patients advocates can take your message to local public officials, media/journalists and students in nursing and medical schools. It is continuing education, worldwide.
LikeLike