No, you give things weight. There is no "broad societal" anything, that is an imaginary abstraction. You can only control yourself & your reaction to things. People who want to control the things said by others, have unhealthy boundaries. Trying to impose the idea that x combination of letters & sounds is some sort of unutterable evil, literally empowers the people who want to use x against others. Laughing or just ignoring the word takes the power away. People who can't laugh at the noises that other people make, & instead act like everything is some sort of deeply harmful attack, are an incredibly destructive force in the world, actively working to weaken themselves & the people around them whether they realize it or not.

For example, "gringo" is now a rather light hearted term of endearment in many parts of central & south America because the white expats who were being called gringos simply couldn't be bothered. Putting someone in the position where they have to explain that you should be insulted weakens their efforts to insult you. The locals got to laugh for a while at the "stupid gringos" who were okay with being called gringo, until eventually it was nothing but smiles associated with the word, all because people refused to treat it as significant.

The people making retard jokes are actually the ones moving the world to a better place. The retards who can't handle it are moving things backwards.