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[katharynne]

If one more person tries to defend their use of gay as pejorative slang because it's 'just a word', I may be forced to STAB THEM IN THE FACE.

Comments

[notevery]

OH MY GOD. I didn't know anyone actually agreed with me on that. I find it so offensive, and I just don't get how people can justify it.

Just because it's 'the done thing' doesn't make it okay. There's a fuckload of stuff that has been the norm in human history that is Really Not Cool.

I mean, these people wouldn't use racial language in the same way, right? But for some reason prejudice based on sexuality isn't, er, prejudiced.

[katharynne]

I know what you mean! It absolutely enrages me - there are no decent arguments against the use of it. When it comes down to it, the word indicative of 'homosexual' has been subverted so that it possesses the meaning 'inferior' 'unworthy', or just fundamentally 'bad'. How anyone can believe this doesn't reflect back to the meaning of homosexual in an offensive way is beyond me.

Really, the slang is a way of saying that anything gay is inherently inferior; if the word used were something religious and racial, there'd be a fucking furore - but as it's used against a group which has been more socially maligned with less protection, people just let it slide - especially men with underlying issues with sexuality and masculinity, to the extent that anything 'other' is automatically wrong.

(yes, teal deer, but its one of the things which gets me extremely fired up, especially as nobody seems to want to challenge it.)

[notevery]

Katie, any teal deer of yours is one that I am happy to find grazing in my garden.

Or, er, something ;P

I realise this is about four odd months late but...

[riyan_bluechell]

I AGREE. There is actually a movement at Bowdoin started by the hockey team (!) to stop using terms like that. I would show you the bcuria article about it, but one can't get bcuria offsite. :(