Days after the release of her last album, “Renaissance,” A representative for the singer said Monday that Beyoncé will amend the lyrics of one of her songs, in response to a protest from disability rights advocates who said the pop star should not use a word that has historically been used as an insult.
in “hot” A ballroom-inspired track, the singer uses the words “spaz” and “spazzin” in a part of the song that is recited lively and is a throwback to the free songs at some ballroom events. Activists condemned the use of the word in social media posts, noting that another pop star, Lizzo, had done so. Remove the same lyric from a song Following a similar backlash in June.
“A word that was not intentionally used in a malicious manner will be replaced,” a spokeswoman for Beyoncé said in an email.
The word in question is based on spastic hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that causes motor impairments in the legs or arms. In June, Hanna Devine, a writer and disability advocate from Australia, chirp On Lizzo’s use of the word, noting that for someone with cerebral palsy like her, the cramp referred to “an unending, painful tightness” in her legs, he urged the singer to “do better.” In response to criticism from fans and activists, Lizzo changed her song “Grrrls” and wrote in a statement that “this is the result of my listening and taking action.”
Diviney wrote in an editorial, Posted in the Guardian On Monday, her “heart sank” when she learned that Beyoncé’s new album had used the same word.
Diviney wrote: “I believed we had changed the music industry and started a global conversation about why there is no place for capable language—whether intended or not—in music.” “But I guess I was wrong, because Beyoncé has now gone and done the exact same thing.”
Disability advocates note that the word was more commonly used as a derogatory term in the United Kingdom than in the United States. Scope, a group in Britain that campaigns for equality for people with disabilities, chirp“The experiences of people with disabilities are not fodder for song lyrics,” she urged Beyoncé to follow Lizzo’s example.