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LGBT

In reply to the discussion: should we reclaim the word 'faggot'? [View all]
 

Smarmie Doofus

(14,498 posts)
3. I dislike all three terminologies.
Thu Nov 22, 2012, 08:43 AM
Nov 2012

Esp. 'queer' and 'faggot'. Word meanings *evolve*. They bring along some element of their earlier meaning as they do so.

Yet, the evidence suggests that , in real life, there is nothing "queer" ( weird, strange, unusual) about my sexuality. Nor am I in any sense like a "bundle" of kindling wood. Though a few ---- I hope *only* a few --- would doubtless like to put me to the torch.... as they did in the 'not so good' old days. Most of the remainder would be happy to see me merely socially marginalized, one suspects. I can live w. that; quite literally. ('Course it would be better if I didn't HAVE to).

I was around when "gay" was more-or-less adopted by the nascent lgbt movement; our predecessors as you put it. (No Ts or Bs in the early days. Not may Ls for that matter. At least not many that preferred to identify as such.) I never liked the presumption that the word implies that I have to 'feel" a particular way, or BE in particular mood. ( Yes, I understand it has a long and complex etymological pedigree that I have not completely accounted for here. But the presumption of mood and/or feeling is basic to the word. )

Fuck it. I wanna have the same emotional latitude that the society affords everyone else. "Gay" or not.

Plus which... I'm not so big on "reclaiming" things. Esp. nasty terminologies so that we.... the targets of their original coinage... can "own" it or "take the sting out of it."

That never really works. Hence the socio-cultural chaos attendant to the reclaiming by some African Americans of the "n word", and all of its myriad pronunciations and spellings. And if reclaiming "gay" was a successful move , why --- forty+ years later --- does it alone ( as in 'so gay') rival "faggot" as the epithet of choice among the , ummmm.... "non-gay".

It doesn't seem to me that we've won the war over that word. Social opprobrium has merely evolved to attach itself to "our" terminology. ( Sort of like a antibiotic-resistant bacteria.) Point: there's a lot more wrong here than we can fix by simply experimenting w. language.

But if I have to vote, "gay" is preferable to the other two. That's what we USE and , bottom line, it's about communication. "Homo", with its detached, objective neutral yet descriptive qualities is preferable to all three. Now THERE'S something to reclaim.

But I'm not holding my breath.

I think the word faggot is offensive, and often meant to be a pejorative Travis_0004 Nov 2012 #1
That's the word my uncle used to refer to bundles of kindling wood Siwsan Nov 2012 #2
I dislike all three terminologies. Smarmie Doofus Nov 2012 #3
WhenI was in college... MarianJack Nov 2012 #4
Check my sig. line. To me, that's what life should all be about. We all only have RKP5637 Nov 2012 #16
That's a great sig line! MarianJack Nov 2012 #19
I have a question: DetlefK Nov 2012 #5
THATS NOT FAIR! Vanje Nov 2012 #18
I'm hiding it all from you :) Marrah_G Nov 2012 #22
I am not interested in those terms ,either. mitchtv Nov 2012 #6
To reclaim means, literally, to lay claim to that which was once yours. closeupready Nov 2012 #7
I've been called that and other such words so often uriel1972 Nov 2012 #8
I think that the idea behind "reclaiming" words Fearless Nov 2012 #9
it was reclaimed for a bit in the early 2000's, atleast amongst young gay new yorkers La Lioness Priyanka Nov 2012 #10
I totally agree with you. And "f****t is definitely at the top of the list Zorra Nov 2012 #11
I see no reason to reclaim "faggot." It was never ours. Behind the Aegis Nov 2012 #12
I don't want to take back fag or faggot but my son (who is 19) beyurslf Nov 2012 #13
Sooo many words to pick from ... RKP5637 Nov 2012 #14
+1 xchrom Nov 2012 #15
Nnnn'Ima leave "faggot" alone HillWilliam Nov 2012 #17
+1 mitchtv Nov 2012 #20
I don't believe so NickP Nov 2012 #21
I agree and welcome to DU! hrmjustin Nov 2012 #23
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