Does reclaiming a label work?

Recently I have heard a lot about different groups of people reclaiming words that have been used offensively towards them or tends to be considered derogative. I wonder whether or not this actually works.

I know that naming and labeling can be crucial when self-identifying, so how does saying that a group is “reclaiming” a term affect the group, those affiliated with the group, and anyone else that might not be directly affiliated? How does saying that a word is being reclaimed empower the person?

The first big reclamation of a label was during a writing class about women my freshmen year here. We read “The Vagina Monologues” and watched a portion of the HBO special in class. There was an entire monologue about reclaiming the word “cunt” as a positive term for females. Even though after learning the true origins and meaning of the word and trying very hard to share this with others, I personally still do not feel that the word “cunt” is positive. If I were to poll most of my classes this semester about whether or not they feel the term is positive in either describing the female reproductive organs or a female herself, I highly doubt any would say so.

Other reclamations of terms I have heard include the terms “queer” and “fag.” People within the LGBTA community have been attempting to reclaim these terms. However, I still do not feel comfortable using these terms. Why is that? Though I would be using the terms in the newly constructed positive way, how would I be viewed by others. I consider myself an outsider to this culture/group of people, so is it okay for me to use these terms rather than the terms “homosexual” or “gay.”

After we read the excerpts from Simi Linton's “Claiming Disability,” I thought more about the terms “handicap” and “disabled people.” Through all of my classes here at MSU I have been taught to use the people first method when using labels, but these excerpts totally changed my thoughts on this. I still feel that using people first is important, but reading these really reiterated my ideas of asking people what their individual preference is. Does a community of persons with disabilities reclaiming the label “disabled” actually affect them or the community or is it still all a personal identification?

Also, the word “invalid” surprised me when I read it in the article “ . I am sharing my own ignorance to the term right now. I had heard the word pronounced by never connected it to how it was spelled for some reason. It is rare that that happens with me, but it did. When I saw the word spelled out, I started to consider how many other words have implied meaning in the spellings but are pronounced slightly different in hopes maybe to distract from these implied meanings.

There are many terms and labels that I have not included in this, but I am sure I will be coming back to this idea again in the coming weeks. There were also many other ideas in the Linton readings that I will likely be referencing. The article was well written and provided a basis for numerous topics related to names and labels.