Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Lizzo
Anish Vij
Lizzo has been heavily criticised by disability activists for lyrics in her new song 'Grrrls'.
The singer released the track on Friday (10 June) and has since been met with backlash from the community.
The 34-year-old used the term s**z in her song, which is widely considered to be a slur against the disabled community, reports Daily Mail.
The verse begins with: "Hold my bag, b****, hold my bag / Do you see this s***? Ima s**z."
People have been showcasing their discontent on Twitter.
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Disability advocate Hannah Diviney wrote: "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.
"‘S**z’ doesn’t mean freaked out or crazy. It’s an ableist slur. It’s 2022. Do better."
A second added: "The most predictable part of the whole @lizzo saga is the way that SO MANY non-disabled people have felt entitled to tell disabled people what is and isn’t a slur.
"If a marginalised group tells you something is offensive and harmful, it’s not your job to argue the point.
"Literally your only job here is to listen. Know better, do better. It’s as simple as that."
However, others argued that the word has a different meaning in AAVE [African-American Vernacular English], meaning more generally to 'freak out'.
One fan wrote: "I think the situation with Lizzo using s**z needs to be a conversation led by disabled, Black Americans (I want to make note that I am a Black disabled person).
"A lot of people dominating the conversation are White and disabled, as well as mostly from the UK."
Another added: "Y’all, I’m not defending LIZZO I’m literally f**king disabled in multiple ways (autistic and chronically ill).
"I’ve been called s*****c and s**z ALL MY LIFE! Hearing her use the slur hurt me BUT I just wanted to acknowledge it has another meaning in AAVE.
"Yes I know the meaning in AAVE originated from the slur! And it’s awful! I just wanted to remind ppl and acknowledge that majority of the Black community don’t even know the original meaning of the term!
"I’m not ever defending the usage of the term! But I just wanted to acknowledge its other meaning in AAVE and that most black folk didn’t even know the original meaning.
"No that dosnt make the usuage if the word ok etc."
UNILAD has contacted a representative for Lizzo for a comment.
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