To reclaim is to bring a word back to a more acceptable course. This can have wider implications in the fields of discourse, and is often used described in terms of personal or socio-political empowerment. In semantics, discourses are linguistic units composed of several sentences — in other words, conversations, arguments or speeches. ...

Linguistics

To reclaim something is the political process and strategy consisting in re-evaluating and re-appropriating terms that in the dominant culture are used to oppress minorities. Similar to the 'pride' movements, this process differs because of its provocative elements: derogatory terms come to acquire positive meaning in the tight circle of the literati, while they keep their negative connotations outside of it. Michel Foucault discusses this idea as a 'reverse discourse' in his History of Sexuality: Volume I. The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has less... Pride logo PRIDE or PRIDE Fighting Championships is a mixed martial arts organization based in Japan, promoted by Dream Stage Entertainment. ... Michel Foucault Michel Foucault (October 15, 1926 – June 26, 1984) was a French philosopher who held a chair at the Collège de France, which he gave the title The History of Systems of Thought. ... The History of Sexuality is also the title of a book, by Michel Foucault. ...

The use of these terms by people who are not members of that group tends to remain viewed as strongly derogatory.

Reclaimed words include

• 'Nigger' by the black movement
• 'Bitch', 'cunt' and 'feminazi' by the feminist movement
• 'Slut', and 'slag' by promiscuous, sexual liberation, polygamous and polyamorous affiliates.
• 'Dyke', 'poof', 'queer', and 'faggot' by the LGBT movements
• 'Crip' and 'gimp' by people with disabilities
• 'Redneck' by southern political movements, especially conservative movements
• 'Jesus freak' by Christians, and especially Christian teens

Nigger is a controversial term used in many English-speaking countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia (but also in many other languages such as German or Russian as a loanword) to refer to people of African descent. ... Look up Bitch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A bitch is a female dog or other member of the canidae family. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Feminazi is an invective neologism used predominantly in United States political rhetoric to characterize women whose ideas are believed to be vehemently misandrous; i. ... Feminism is a social theory and political movement primarily informed and motivated by the experience of women. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... For the Transformers character, see Slag (Transformer). ... Promiscuity is the practice of making relatively unselective, casual and indiscriminate choices. ... The sexual revolution was a substantial change in sexual morality and sexual behaviour throughout the West in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ... Polygamy, literally many marriages in ancient Greek, is a marital practice in which a person has more than one spouse simultaneously (as opposed to monogamy where each person has a maximum of one spouse at any one time). ... Start of polyamory contingent at San Francisco Pride 2004. ... Dyke or dike is a slang term for lesbian. ... The term poof can be used in several ways: Look up Poof on Wiktionary, the free dictionary as a British English term for a a large footstool (from the French word pouf). as a name for bucky or English term for a gay man. ... Queer has traditionally meant ‘strange’ or ‘unusual’, but is currently often used in reference to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities. ... Look up faggot in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... LGBT (or GLBT) is an abreviation used as a collective term to refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people. ... The Crips are one of the Los Angeles, California gangs. ... The GNU Image Manipulation Program or The GIMP is a free software bitmap graphics editor, a program for creating and processing raster graphics. ... The term disability, as it is applied to humans, refers to any condition that impedes the completion of daily tasks using traditional methods. ... Please note that his article describes a stereotype and therefore it has to express certain stereotypical views. ... Jesus freak was originally a derogatory term applied to those involved in the Jesus Movement of the 1960s and 1970s who were often considered overzealous in their passion for Jesus. ...

Neopaganism

"Reclaiming" is a community of women and men working to unify spirit and politics. Reclaiming's vision is rooted in the religion and magic of the Goddess, the Immanent Life Force. Reclaiming sees its work as teaching and making magic; the art of empowering the individual and the community. In Reclaiming's classes, workshops, and public rituals, emphasis is on the training of voices, bodies, energy, intuition, and minds. Participants use the skills learned to deepen strength, both as individuals and as community, to voice concerns about the world in which all live, and bring to birth a vision of a new culture. Reclaiming originated in the Bay Area of California, blending the influences of Victor and Cora Anderson's Feri Tradition of Witchcraft, Dianic Witchcraft as taught by Z. Budapest, and the feminist, peace, and environmental movements. The tradition's cofounder is Starhawk (author of The Spiral Dance)and 9 other books. The Feri Tradition (also Faery, Fairy, Faerie etc. ... Dianic Wicca, also known as Womens Spirituality, Feminist Spirituality, Feminist Witchcraft, and Feminist Wicca. ... Zsuzsanna Budapest (b. ... Feminism is a diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women, especially in terms of their social, political, and economic situation. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... Starhawk (born Miriam Samos in 1951) is a American writer, activist and Witch. ... The Spiral Dance: a Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess is a best-selling book about Pagan belief and practice by Starhawk. ...

See also

• Reclaim the Streets

Reclaim the Streets (RTS) is a group of people with a collective ideal of community ownership of public spaces. ...

External links

• www.reclaiming.org