This week: 1. making out with deaf guys just because they're deaf; 2. disabled and pregnant?; 3. calling Dan Savage: defamation alternatives. Post your questions here.



TRANSCRIPT

Caitlin: What questions do we have?

Toshio: Well, we have one question, and it's from Gabby in Berkeley, California, and it says, "I made out with a deaf guy just to see if I could make out with a deaf guy, and is that wrong?"

C: OK.

T: It's a good question, and I have to say, I don't think that it's the worst thing that you could ever do.

C: No, and how does Gabby know that this deaf guy wasn't just trying to make out with a hearing girl?

T: That's true - he could've been playing the same thing on her, that she thought she was playing on him.

C: A lot of times I think the stigma that's attached to disability makes able-bodied people want you even more.

T: Just a little bit.

C: Because it makes it dangerous, and it's something you're not supposed to be attracted to…

T: It's something new.

C: …even though a lot of disabled people are super-attractive and sexy. Who knows what his intentions were. No. So the ultimate answer is no, it wasn't wrong.

T: It's fine - go for it.

C: It's fine, if he was cute, go for it. Who cares? I hope it was good.

T: Can a disabled girl have a baby?

C: Yes.

T: Yes. Yes. Have you seen it with your own eyes?

C: Yes, I have.

T: Well, then I guess there's proof.

C: [Laughs.]

T: I think it really depends on the disability that we're speaking about, so that's pretty general.

C: Right, I don't really know what that was in reference to, but yes, disabled women can have babies, for sure.

T: OK.

T: What's wrong with calling somebody a retard?

C: OK.

T: What is wrong with calling somebody a retard?

C: Um, it's really offensive.

T: I think it's pretty - I think it's considered - I wouldn't say that it's up there… Well, maybe it is - in terms of, like, the n-word and the r-word?

C: N-word…

T: How close?

C: You know, Dan Savage actually recently wrote something where he said that the word 'retard' wasn't as offensive as, you know, racial epithets, or, you know, gay slurs.

T: OK.

C: Which I disagree with. I think they are equally offensive. I think we're just not conditioned to put them on the same kind of level as those kind of slurs. It's just a really - I mean it's hateful, and it's just stupid, it's denigrating, and it's dismissive, and just come up with something a little more intelligent, that's all.

T: Like?

C: Like jagweed.

T: [Laughs.]

C: Or douchebag. Those are good words.

T: That is a good one. I use it often.

T: So creativity is key, is what you're saying?

C: Yeah, put a little creativity into your slurs. Make it interesting.