Monday’s Lizzo statement stated that she was changing the lyrics of “Grrls” after being criticized by many in the disabled community for the word “ableist slur” that it contains.
The Friday release of the song is part Lizzo’s forthcoming album “Special.” It features a lyric that includes the word “spaz”.
“It has been pointed out to me that my song, “GRRRLS”, contains a potentially harmful word. In an Instagram post, the three-time Grammy winner stated that she does not want to promote derogatory language.
“As a fat, black American woman, I’ve been the victim of many hateful comments. I know how powerful words can be. “I’m proud to announce that there is a new version GRRRLS, with a lyric modification.”
Spazz is a word that originated from spastic, according to fans.
According to Collins Dictionary, “A spastic person is someone who was born with a disability that makes it difficult to control their muscles, especially their arms and legs.” People now call someone with cerebral palsy someone who has this disability.
According to the Mayo Clinic, cerebral palsy is characterized by impaired movement, exaggerated reflexes or floppiness of the trunk and limbs, unusual postures, involuntary movements, unsteady walks, or a combination thereof.
One person wrote, “Spaz and spastic are terrible words.” “The history behind this term is deeply disturbing The history behind this term is deeply disturbing
A person with Cerebral Palsy also called Lizzo to help her “do better.”
“Hello @lizzo, my disability Cerebral Palsy can literally be described as Spastic Diplegia (where spasticity means unending painful tightness of my legs). Your new song makes me angry + sad. The Twitter user explained that “Spaz” doesn’t refer to being crazy or freaked out. “It’s an ableist slur. It’s 2022. Do better.
Another user shared, “Just listened the new Lizzo song. And flinched at the use of’spaz.’ so casually in 2022.” “As someone who has the condition’spaz,’ it’s been used to harm me and others I care about many times. It is a slur. It’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable.
Many people were disappointed by Lizzo’s choice of words, as she uses her platform to spread positivity to others.
“Using an ableist insult to a song in 2022 is not acceptable.” One user said that Lizzo is a champion of women, plus-size people, and other groups treated poorly by society.
“I would like to clarify that this isn’t a hateful tweet. It’s a call to a person in a position to know how to use their platform to help ableism. The person said that they were not here to cancel Lizzo but to encourage change.
Others demanded that Lizzo remove the word “song” from the song.
One user commented, “Hey @lizzo, please remove the word “spaz”, from your new song. It’s offensive to the disabled community and is slurred.” “From a dissatisfied fan.”
Lizzo posted on Instagram that she believes the change was a result of her listening and taking action.
