How about we play a game. You have said that ni**er, ki*e, and gy* are exceptions to the rule that words lose meaning. Find a derogatory term for a demographic subset (I know there's a word for this, but I can't remember it) that has lost its meaning.
I didn't say that kike and gyp are exceptions to the rule. I said that I wouldn't use the word kike, particularly in reality. This holds true for gay and faggot as well, and a plethora of other no-no words.
You've said words will lose their meaning. That word is among the oldest in use, but still carries its meaning. So far, you haven't listed any words that classify with "gay" and "fag" that have lost their meaning.
How about we play a game. You have said that ni**er, ki*e, and gy* are exceptions to the rule that words lose meaning. Find a derogatory term for a demographic subset (I know there's a word for this, but I can't remember it) that has lost its meaning.
I didn't say that kike and gyp are exceptions to the rule. I said that I wouldn't use the word kike, particularly in reality. This holds true for gay and faggot as well, and a plethora of other no-no words.
You've said words will lose their meaning. That word is among the oldest in use, but still carries its meaning. So far, you haven't listed any words that classify with "gay" and "fag" that have lost their meaning.
I said that words would lose their meaning when they are applied to things outside of its etymology, meaning, or intent. When a chair becomes 'gay' the meaning of 'gay' degrades. I've never heard of any thing or act referred to as kike-ish or whatever.
And, if you like: guy, gyp, whore (though still applicable to lascivious fornication it used to be exclusive in use towards women), bitch. I have little doubt that there are others, but they don't come to mind.
I can't find anything for "guy." Whore seems to have two etymologies: started as a name for the profession and became a pejorative and the reverse. Either way, it is still seen as incredibly insulting toward women and is not a case of a pejorative becoming acceptable. If you think the other two aren't pejoratives, you are an idiot.
Guy N
1. a. An effigy of Guy Fawkes traditionally burnt on the evening of November the Fifth, usu. with a display of fireworks.
2. A person of grotesque appearance, esp. with reference to dress; a ‘fright’.
Anymore it simply means person. Whore is still a pejorative, but it is no longer a female specific pejorative as there are plenty of men who are and are referred to as whores with just as much insult intended. Same for bitch. And I must be an idiot, because I don't believe that the vast majority of people who use 'gyp' even recognize that it is a racial slur.
So the fact that a larger percentage of men ages 18-24 were willing to openly express their dislike of male homosexuals than men ages 25-34 means there's less openly expressed homophobia amongst men ages 18-24 than men ages 25-34? Er, what?
And you get to pretend that "I don't know" or refusal to respond answers are all negative and should be weighted as heavily as responses that openly express dislike for male homosexuality, while I can't pretend that since it's impossible to discern why they didn't respond that they shouldn't be the main crux of any interpretation of the results?
You can, I just consider it utopian.
Again, statistics are not your strong point, are they? Assigning the same negative weight to "I don't know" or other non-responses as openly expressed negative responses is intellectually dishonest, and any conclusion you reach from doing so is inherently flawed.
So you're honestly claiming that the "considerable majority" of the time teenage straight boys used homophobic slurs like "fag" it's not in any way even slightly related to homophobia because...um...er...something?
Yes.
Oh, so you're not even going to bother to try and support your assertions. Good to know.
Ah, so we aren't even just talking about people who are online but rather people who are in charge of various online environments. So, in other words, any of my views towards this are immaterial since the only thing that I control is my e-mail.
Yes, if only any online environments based their disciplinary actions on individual users complaining to moderators.
How about we play a game. You have said that ni**er, ki*e, and gy* are exceptions to the rule that words lose meaning. Find a derogatory term for a demographic subset (I know there's a word for this, but I can't remember it) that has lost its meaning.
I didn't say that kike and gyp are exceptions to the rule. I said that I wouldn't use the word kike, particularly in reality. This holds true for gay and faggot as well, and a plethora of other no-no words.
You've said words will lose their meaning. That word is among the oldest in use, but still carries its meaning. So far, you haven't listed any words that classify with "gay" and "fag" that have lost their meaning.
I said that words would lose their meaning when they are applied to things outside of its etymology, meaning, or intent. When a chair becomes 'gay' the meaning of 'gay' degrades. I've never heard of any thing or act referred to as kike-ish or whatever.
And, if you like: guy, gyp, whore (though still applicable to lascivious fornication it used to be exclusive in use towards women), bitch. I have little doubt that there are others, but they don't come to mind.
I can't find anything for "guy." Whore seems to have two etymologies: started as a name for the profession and became a pejorative and the reverse. Either way, it is still seen as incredibly insulting toward women and is not a case of a pejorative becoming acceptable. If you think the other two aren't pejoratives, you are an idiot.
Guy N
1. a. An effigy of Guy Fawkes traditionally burnt on the evening of November the Fifth, usu. with a display of fireworks.
2. A person of grotesque appearance, esp. with reference to dress; a ‘fright’.
Anymore it simply means person. Whore is still a pejorative, but it is no longer a female specific pejorative as there are plenty of men who are and are referred to as whores with just as much insult intended. Same for bitch. And I must be an idiot, because I don't believe that the vast majority of people who use 'gyp' even recognize that it is a racial slur.
Bitch is used against men to mean they have feminine qualities. That is absolutely misogynistic.
For "guy," you'll have to show that it started out being used by women, as it sounds like it started as an insult rather than a pejorative.
So the fact that a larger percentage of men ages 18-24 were willing to openly express their dislike of male homosexuals than men ages 25-34 means there's less openly expressed homophobia amongst men ages 18-24 than men ages 25-34? Er, what?
And you get to pretend that "I don't know" or refusal to respond answers are all negative and should be weighted as heavily as responses that openly express dislike for male homosexuality, while I can't pretend that since it's impossible to discern why they didn't respond that they shouldn't be the main crux of any interpretation of the results?
You can, I just consider it utopian.
Again, statistics are not your strong point, are they? Assigning the same negative weight to "I don't know" or other non-responses as openly expressed negative responses is intellectually dishonest, and any conclusion you reach from doing so is inherently flawed.
I don't attribute the same negative weight to the 'I don't knows' I attribute some negative weight to them, and so consider the pro column to be the only important one when the issue is first past the post winner take all.
So you're honestly claiming that the "considerable majority" of the time teenage straight boys used homophobic slurs like "fag" it's not in any way even slightly related to homophobia because...um...er...something?
Yes.
Oh, so you're not even going to bother to try and support your assertions. Good to know.
Ah, so we aren't even just talking about people who are online but rather people who are in charge of various online environments. So, in other words, any of my views towards this are immaterial since the only thing that I control is my e-mail.
Yes, if only any online environments based their disciplinary actions on individual users complaining to moderators.
If only. (Un)fortunately most online environments are dictatorships and so act on the whims of the people who are in charge of it rather than by enough users complaining.
Bitch is used against men to mean they have feminine qualities. That is absolutely misogynistic.
No, it is used against mean to mean they are stupid. Or expressing excessive complaints, anger, despair, frustration, alarm, etc. though it is usually followed by a 'son of a' in that instance.
so what insults are allowed? what ones aren't racist, homophobic, misogynistic, or discriminatory towards the developmentally challenged?
cause right now it seems that unless I feel like contributing the oppression of a demographic my options are severely limited
It's really quite simple. You take a person's most marked physical feature, compare it to genitalia... male, female, or animal... and end with the suffix "-bag," "-wipe", or "-muncher."
I don't attribute the same negative weight to the 'I don't knows' I attribute some negative weight to them, and so consider the pro column to be the only important one when the issue is first past the post winner take all.
Ah, so you're ignoring the evidence that doesn't support your assertion. Classy!
Oh, so you're not even going to bother to try and support your assertions. Good to know.
I have. You don't care, so why should I?
Repeating your assertions is not the same as supporting them.
I get that it's your own unsupported personal opinion that the "considerable majority" of straight teenage boys use homophobic slurs in a completely non-homophobic manner.
In the absence of any attempt at linking that opinion to reality, I'll continue to assume that your claims are only example of, at best, your wishful thinking.
Bitch is used against men to mean they have feminine qualities. That is absolutely misogynistic.
No, it is used against mean to mean they are stupid. Or expressing excessive complaints, anger, despair, frustration, alarm, etc. though it is usually followed by a 'son of a' in that instance.
I don't attribute the same negative weight to the 'I don't knows' I attribute some negative weight to them, and so consider the pro column to be the only important one when the issue is first past the post winner take all.
Ah, so you're ignoring the evidence that doesn't support your assertion. Classy!
Oh, so you're not even going to bother to try and support your assertions. Good to know.
I have. You don't care, so why should I?
Repeating your assertions is not the same as supporting them.
I get that it's your own unsupported personal opinion that the "considerable majority" of straight teenage boys use homophobic slurs in a completely non-homophobic manner.
In the absence of any attempt at linking that opinion to reality, I'll continue to assume that your claims are only example of, at best, your wishful thinking.
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree then because your seeming belief that teenage boys referring to everything under the sun as gay are meaning it in a homophobic manner simply does not square with anything I've seen, read, or experienced.
Oh, so you're not even going to bother to try and support your assertions. Good to know.
I have. You don't care, so why should I?
Repeating your assertions is not the same as supporting them.
I get that it's your own unsupported personal opinion that the "considerable majority" of straight teenage boys use homophobic slurs in a completely non-homophobic manner.
In the absence of any attempt at linking that opinion to reality, I'll continue to assume that your claims are only example of, at best, your wishful thinking.
And I would go back to my original point that you thinking this is related to not getting out much or knowing many people from said age group. It's vernacular amongst people much in the way 'retard' is. It's non-PC, but that's how it goes.
so what insults are allowed? what ones aren't racist, homophobic, misogynistic, or discriminatory towards the developmentally challenged?
cause right now it seems that unless I feel like contributing the oppression of a demographic my options are severely limited
It's really quite simple. You take a person's most marked physical feature, compare it to genitalia... male, female, or animal... and end with the suffix "-bag," "-wipe", or "-muncher."
like say, "your nose is a cockwipe"?
hmm, I could probably get used to that
but by using genitalia in an insult, aren't we implying that genitals are bad or shameful? and we certainly don't want people feeling bad about their genitals!
so what insults are allowed? what ones aren't racist, homophobic, misogynistic, or discriminatory towards the developmentally challenged?
cause right now it seems that unless I feel like contributing the oppression of a demographic my options are severely limited
It's really quite simple. You take a person's most marked physical feature, compare it to genitalia... male, female, or animal... and end with the suffix "-bag," "-wipe", or "-muncher."
like say, "your nose is a cockwipe"?
hmm, I could probably get used to that
but by using genitalia in an insult, aren't we implying that genitals are bad or shameful? and we certainly don't want people feeling bad about their genitals!
Oh, so you're not even going to bother to try and support your assertions. Good to know.
I have. You don't care, so why should I?
Repeating your assertions is not the same as supporting them.
I get that it's your own unsupported personal opinion that the "considerable majority" of straight teenage boys use homophobic slurs in a completely non-homophobic manner.
In the absence of any attempt at linking that opinion to reality, I'll continue to assume that your claims are only example of, at best, your wishful thinking.
And I would go back to my original point that you thinking this is related to not getting out much or knowing many people from said age group. It's vernacular amongst people much in the way 'retard' is. It's non-PC, but that's how it goes.
Except that once again, I'm not arguing that "fag" isn't a popular insult amongst straight teenage boys.
What I'm arguing is, in a nutshell, that the reasons it's so popular are because of the word's homophobic context, not despite of it. So that the prevalence of it's use as a pejorative amongst straight teenage boys reinforces that homophobic context rather than diluting or changing it.
Let me make my point clear: The vast majority of people who use the term faggot and gay as insults are not rooting it in homophobia. People who use "n***er" are rooting it in racism, consciously; that is the important distinction here
Isn't making completely unsupported claims fun?
No dude, anybody who gets out frequently knows this. No, there is no study that measures the usage of these terms to literal application, but it's pretty well known that the use of fag and gay in normal vernacular do not hold the same weight as the n-word, especially amongst youth today.
Yeah no, this is complete and total bullshit. I heard the n word thrown around WAY more as a kid than fag, way more loosely. Maybe where you grew up it was that way, but it's far FAR from a universal rule.
Let me put it this way - saying that fag has lost all meaning, and does not connote homophobic intent, is the same as saying that our society has ingrained that homophobia into it, such that it no longer needs to be explicitly said. This is what happened with the n word where I grew up, which is why it was thrown around so freely, I think.
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KageraImitating the worst people. Since 2004Registered Userregular
edited January 2010
I think 'fag' and 'gay' most DEFINITELY have homophobic connotations, but they tend to be used in emasculating terms more often than before. I'd hate to reference South Park, but it kind of got it right.
You'd call someone a 'fag' for the same reason you'd call them a 'bitch' or a 'pussy' or even a 'pussy bitch', because you're denouncing his manliness.
But just because that's how SOME people use it doesn't always mean that is how others will take it so if you care about people not thinking you're a jerk (no offense to masturbation) off you should probably try to cut out color commentary that includes any offensive language.
It's actually potentially funnier to try to come up with random stuff like 'aw turtle tacos' or whatever. I said POTENTIALLY.
Kagera on
My neck, my back, my FUPA and my crack.
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AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
You'd call someone a 'fag' for the same reason you'd call them a 'bitch' or a 'pussy' or even a 'pussy bitch', because you're denouncing his manliness.
True, but you're talking about a community where contextual things like gender and sexuality aren't obvious. How do I know I'm making a hatemongering slur when I call CylonFan1138 a "faggot bitch?" I don't, but for all I know CylonFan1138 might be a lesbian, and then the slur would have a whole new connotation.
What's wrong with regular old descrimination-neutral slurs, like "jerk" or "loser" or "assface?"
It's high time we went back to a kinder, simpler era.
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KageraImitating the worst people. Since 2004Registered Userregular
You'd call someone a 'fag' for the same reason you'd call them a 'bitch' or a 'pussy' or even a 'pussy bitch', because you're denouncing his manliness.
True, but you're talking about a community where contextual things like gender and sexuality aren't obvious. How do I know I'm making a hatemongering slur when I call CylonFan1138 a "faggot bitch?" I don't, but for all I know CylonFan1138 might be a lesbian, and then the slur would have a whole new connotation.
What's wrong with regular old descrimination-neutral slurs, like "jerk" or "loser" or "assface?"
It's high time we went back to a kinder, simpler era.
On the topic of Southpark I'm pretty sure they win the award for most hilarious use of the word fag and I'm also pretty sure that they are at least a little bit gay.
PERSONAL ANECDOTE TIME:
I have a mentally disabled brother and work in disability care. On the internet (and in real life) downer, down, tard, and retard are pretty popular insults. Sometimes I feel a bit insulted by their use, but mostly not. This is because I am aware that while the reason these words are insults is because of their roots in mental disability, most of the time when people say them they just mean 'stupid person'.
I am more likely to be offended by someone saying 'he has down syndrome' than 'he is a down'.
On the topic of Southpark I'm pretty sure they win the award for most hilarious use of the word fag and I'm also pretty sure that they are at least a little bit gay.
PERSONAL ANECDOTE TIME:
I have a mentally disabled brother and work in disability care. On the internet (and in real life) downer, down, tard, and retard are pretty popular insults. Sometimes I feel a bit insulted by their use, but mostly not. This is because I am aware that while the reason these words are insults is because of their roots in mental disability, most of the time when people say them they just mean 'stupid person'.
I am more likely to be offended by someone saying 'he has down syndrome' than 'he is a down'.
This is tricky territory.
If you start demonizing every metaphor for mental impairment, you're going to run out of slurs. Even things like "idiot" and "moron" have technical medical origins. However, I think you can safely say that most people who would be directly offronted by these slurs probably aren't playing video games or lurking on message boards, though I might be wrong.
It's all in that grey area of offensive things said to people who cannot possibly be offended by the slur. Do you take offense on behalf of others? Or do you let it go?
What's the line between stupidity and mental disability, anyway?
I would suggest that "stupid" can be interchanged with "brazenly ignorant." As in, someone who has the capacity for higher-level thought, but chooses ignorance because ignorance is bliss and even incorrect knowledge is power. People often assert authority they do not have, regardless of consequence, because power over others is enjoyable to the feeble mind.
A "mental disability" is the inability to know any better; "Stupid" is knowing better but not caring.
What's the line between stupidity and mental disability, anyway?
I would suggest that "stupid" can be interchanged with "brazenly ignorant." As in, someone who has the capacity for higher-level thought, but chooses ignorance because ignorance is bliss and even incorrect knowledge is power. People often assert authority they do not have, regardless of consequence, because power over others is enjoyable to the feeble mind.
A "mental disability" is the inability to know any better; "Stupid" is knowing better but not caring.
What's the line between stupidity and mental disability, anyway?
I would suggest that "stupid" can be interchanged with "brazenly ignorant." As in, someone who has the capacity for higher-level thought, but chooses ignorance because ignorance is bliss and even incorrect knowledge is power. People often assert authority they do not have, regardless of consequence, because power over others is enjoyable to the feeble mind.
A "mental disability" is the inability to know any better; "Stupid" is knowing better but not caring.
This seems a pretty good definition to me.
Actually it's not entirely great.
Willful ignorance is not necessarily stupidity. Despite what you may believe, having more knowledge and information about something doesn't necessarily mean you will be able to make better decisions. Sometimes, you can actually make better decisions by having only a slice of information.
There comes a point where too much information pretty much muddles your judgment, and the worst part is you end up becoming very confident in your decision when in fact it could be entirely wrong.
UBS on
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AtomikaLive fast and get fucked or whateverRegistered Userregular
What's the line between stupidity and mental disability, anyway?
I would suggest that "stupid" can be interchanged with "brazenly ignorant." As in, someone who has the capacity for higher-level thought, but chooses ignorance because ignorance is bliss and even incorrect knowledge is power. People often assert authority they do not have, regardless of consequence, because power over others is enjoyable to the feeble mind.
A "mental disability" is the inability to know any better; "Stupid" is knowing better but not caring.
This seems a pretty good definition to me.
Actually it's not entirely great.
Willful ignorance is not necessarily stupidity. Despite what you may believe, having more knowledge and information about something doesn't necessarily mean you will be able to make better decisions. Sometimes, you can actually make better decisions by having only a slice of information.
There comes a point where too much information pretty much muddles your judgment, and the worst part is you end up becoming very confident in your decision when in fact it could be entirely wrong.
We're clearly talking about the context of hurling epithets on the internet.
Except it's not actually pertinent here. When some jerk on Xbox Live calls someone a faggot, he doesn't mean anything other than "homosexual." Which implies such a condition is inherently undesirable.
And South Park, at least in this one instance, it totally and utterly wrong.
I usually don't go beyond a few generic f-bombs while gun-fighting online.
Some guy trying to sneak up behind you and you manage to turn and shoot them or knife them first I think it's alright to give them a little trash-talk.
I flanked a squad of about six guys with an MG on the MAG open-beta and after they all died I waded past their bleeding out bodies and commented, "How was that mother fuckers?"
But in my defense I had just brutally raped their ass with a machine gun.
The only reason Fag is such a popular derogatory term is because it offends people. If saying 'Johnny Cash' widely offended people then I bet it would be just as popular to throw about.
Most of the time the person saying the word doesn't care what it inheritly means, they just want to get a rise out of you because there's a good chance the word will offend.
if saying fag is unacceptable, isn't bitch/biatch/cunt etc. just as bad?
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DunxcoShould get a suitNever skips breakfastRegistered Userregular
edited January 2010
When I'm playing online I try to keep my insults as limited as possible, and even then most of them revolve around the words "arse" or "bollocks". Arse-bandit is probably my most-used insult to people.
Anecdotal storytime: Back last summer when I playing Gears of War 2 online (and anyone who's played that knows what a frustrating experience it is, due to how awful the community for the game is and the exploits used), and I did get frustrated at getting constantly sniped and killed by one player on another team. I called him a "Sneaky, shitbag little faggot" in retort for this. Afterwards I sent him a message apologising for the comment (because it's just not something I do - it's a game, and I can get worked up about it sometimes sure, but that doesn't enable me to start throwing out racist or homophobic slur).
The player in question responded, and was actually suprised that I'd apologised, claiming he'd been called much worse before and seeming like it was just water off of the ducks back for him.
So we've reached this situation where it's the norm to be called a fag/gay online and actually having people apologise for it is more shocking and rare than the act itself. Crazy, crazy world.
Kids making stupid decisions isn't really anything new. Having those stupid things recorded or available for access by hundreds or thousands of people is.
if saying fag is unacceptable, isn't bitch/biatch/cunt etc. just as bad?
Cunt is a funny word. It's so strong and vulgar and deliciously wrong. And yes, I think it's unreasonable to expect that we won't use genitalia as the basis for insults because the bits are funny.
Don't deny it, wangs and vajayjays are fucking hilarious. Besides, screaming YOU FUCKING COCKWRANGLING CUNTMONGER SHITMANGO is way more fun and cathartic then just calling someone a robojew etc.
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DunxcoShould get a suitNever skips breakfastRegistered Userregular
Depends how you look at it. I've never percieved it as being synonymous with faggot. Broken down it'd essentially mean "one who steals arses". It's not meant to make any sense, like some of the stuff I do spout. Example: Cock-knocker. I don't associate that with anything homosexual, I associate it more with Mark Hammill's role in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back - I.E. Someone who punches people in the crotch, usually disabling them in one hit (wow that's a suprisingly technical explanation for an insult).
The difference between calling someone a fag and calling someone a bitch is that fag is used as a derogatory slang for gay and instead of gay because its more offensive, and that's what you're calling them. With this projected homosexuality comes the insult that just "being" homosexual is in and of itself a bad thing. When it is not.
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Three of those are accusations, not pejoratives. The others are still pejoratives.
Anymore it simply means person. Whore is still a pejorative, but it is no longer a female specific pejorative as there are plenty of men who are and are referred to as whores with just as much insult intended. Same for bitch. And I must be an idiot, because I don't believe that the vast majority of people who use 'gyp' even recognize that it is a racial slur.
Again, statistics are not your strong point, are they? Assigning the same negative weight to "I don't know" or other non-responses as openly expressed negative responses is intellectually dishonest, and any conclusion you reach from doing so is inherently flawed.
Oh, so you're not even going to bother to try and support your assertions. Good to know.
Yes, if only any online environments based their disciplinary actions on individual users complaining to moderators.
Bitch is used against men to mean they have feminine qualities. That is absolutely misogynistic.
For "guy," you'll have to show that it started out being used by women, as it sounds like it started as an insult rather than a pejorative.
I don't attribute the same negative weight to the 'I don't knows' I attribute some negative weight to them, and so consider the pro column to be the only important one when the issue is first past the post winner take all.
I have. You don't care, so why should I?
If only. (Un)fortunately most online environments are dictatorships and so act on the whims of the people who are in charge of it rather than by enough users complaining.
cause right now it seems that unless I feel like contributing the oppression of a demographic my options are severely limited
No, it is used against mean to mean they are stupid. Or expressing excessive complaints, anger, despair, frustration, alarm, etc. though it is usually followed by a 'son of a' in that instance.
It's really quite simple. You take a person's most marked physical feature, compare it to genitalia... male, female, or animal... and end with the suffix "-bag," "-wipe", or "-muncher."
Ah, so you're ignoring the evidence that doesn't support your assertion. Classy!
Repeating your assertions is not the same as supporting them.
I get that it's your own unsupported personal opinion that the "considerable majority" of straight teenage boys use homophobic slurs in a completely non-homophobic manner.
In the absence of any attempt at linking that opinion to reality, I'll continue to assume that your claims are only example of, at best, your wishful thinking.
Which is, of course, a totally different term.
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree then because your seeming belief that teenage boys referring to everything under the sun as gay are meaning it in a homophobic manner simply does not square with anything I've seen, read, or experienced.
And I would go back to my original point that you thinking this is related to not getting out much or knowing many people from said age group. It's vernacular amongst people much in the way 'retard' is. It's non-PC, but that's how it goes.
like say, "your nose is a cockwipe"?
hmm, I could probably get used to that
but by using genitalia in an insult, aren't we implying that genitals are bad or shameful? and we certainly don't want people feeling bad about their genitals!
Whatever cloaca nose.
Except that once again, I'm not arguing that "fag" isn't a popular insult amongst straight teenage boys.
What I'm arguing is, in a nutshell, that the reasons it's so popular are because of the word's homophobic context, not despite of it. So that the prevalence of it's use as a pejorative amongst straight teenage boys reinforces that homophobic context rather than diluting or changing it.
Yeah no, this is complete and total bullshit. I heard the n word thrown around WAY more as a kid than fag, way more loosely. Maybe where you grew up it was that way, but it's far FAR from a universal rule.
You'd call someone a 'fag' for the same reason you'd call them a 'bitch' or a 'pussy' or even a 'pussy bitch', because you're denouncing his manliness.
But just because that's how SOME people use it doesn't always mean that is how others will take it so if you care about people not thinking you're a jerk (no offense to masturbation) off you should probably try to cut out color commentary that includes any offensive language.
It's actually potentially funnier to try to come up with random stuff like 'aw turtle tacos' or whatever. I said POTENTIALLY.
True, but you're talking about a community where contextual things like gender and sexuality aren't obvious. How do I know I'm making a hatemongering slur when I call CylonFan1138 a "faggot bitch?" I don't, but for all I know CylonFan1138 might be a lesbian, and then the slur would have a whole new connotation.
What's wrong with regular old descrimination-neutral slurs, like "jerk" or "loser" or "assface?"
It's high time we went back to a kinder, simpler era.
I agree, even said so later in the post. :P
PERSONAL ANECDOTE TIME:
I have a mentally disabled brother and work in disability care. On the internet (and in real life) downer, down, tard, and retard are pretty popular insults. Sometimes I feel a bit insulted by their use, but mostly not. This is because I am aware that while the reason these words are insults is because of their roots in mental disability, most of the time when people say them they just mean 'stupid person'.
I am more likely to be offended by someone saying 'he has down syndrome' than 'he is a down'.
https://medium.com/@alascii
This is tricky territory.
If you start demonizing every metaphor for mental impairment, you're going to run out of slurs. Even things like "idiot" and "moron" have technical medical origins. However, I think you can safely say that most people who would be directly offronted by these slurs probably aren't playing video games or lurking on message boards, though I might be wrong.
It's all in that grey area of offensive things said to people who cannot possibly be offended by the slur. Do you take offense on behalf of others? Or do you let it go?
I would suggest that "stupid" can be interchanged with "brazenly ignorant." As in, someone who has the capacity for higher-level thought, but chooses ignorance because ignorance is bliss and even incorrect knowledge is power. People often assert authority they do not have, regardless of consequence, because power over others is enjoyable to the feeble mind.
A "mental disability" is the inability to know any better; "Stupid" is knowing better but not caring.
This seems a pretty good definition to me.
Actually it's not entirely great.
Willful ignorance is not necessarily stupidity. Despite what you may believe, having more knowledge and information about something doesn't necessarily mean you will be able to make better decisions. Sometimes, you can actually make better decisions by having only a slice of information.
There comes a point where too much information pretty much muddles your judgment, and the worst part is you end up becoming very confident in your decision when in fact it could be entirely wrong.
We're clearly talking about the context of hurling epithets on the internet.
What the fuck are you talking about?
I thought that was kind of topical, in that people are mentioning the word changing meaning.
They go through all the different older meanings of faggot.
I also thought the scene where they're in court explaining themselves to be pretty hilarious.
I liked how they looked at this issue.
Except it's not actually pertinent here. When some jerk on Xbox Live calls someone a faggot, he doesn't mean anything other than "homosexual." Which implies such a condition is inherently undesirable.
And South Park, at least in this one instance, it totally and utterly wrong.
Some guy trying to sneak up behind you and you manage to turn and shoot them or knife them first I think it's alright to give them a little trash-talk.
I flanked a squad of about six guys with an MG on the MAG open-beta and after they all died I waded past their bleeding out bodies and commented, "How was that mother fuckers?"
But in my defense I had just brutally raped their ass with a machine gun.
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Most of the time the person saying the word doesn't care what it inheritly means, they just want to get a rise out of you because there's a good chance the word will offend.
Anecdotal storytime: Back last summer when I playing Gears of War 2 online (and anyone who's played that knows what a frustrating experience it is, due to how awful the community for the game is and the exploits used), and I did get frustrated at getting constantly sniped and killed by one player on another team. I called him a "Sneaky, shitbag little faggot" in retort for this. Afterwards I sent him a message apologising for the comment (because it's just not something I do - it's a game, and I can get worked up about it sometimes sure, but that doesn't enable me to start throwing out racist or homophobic slur).
The player in question responded, and was actually suprised that I'd apologised, claiming he'd been called much worse before and seeming like it was just water off of the ducks back for him.
So we've reached this situation where it's the norm to be called a fag/gay online and actually having people apologise for it is more shocking and rare than the act itself. Crazy, crazy world.
how is this essentially different from fag?
Yes but if you call someone a fag they might actually kill themselves.
Cunt is a funny word. It's so strong and vulgar and deliciously wrong. And yes, I think it's unreasonable to expect that we won't use genitalia as the basis for insults because the bits are funny.
Don't deny it, wangs and vajayjays are fucking hilarious. Besides, screaming YOU FUCKING COCKWRANGLING CUNTMONGER SHITMANGO is way more fun and cathartic then just calling someone a robojew etc.
Depends how you look at it. I've never percieved it as being synonymous with faggot. Broken down it'd essentially mean "one who steals arses". It's not meant to make any sense, like some of the stuff I do spout. Example: Cock-knocker. I don't associate that with anything homosexual, I associate it more with Mark Hammill's role in Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back - I.E. Someone who punches people in the crotch, usually disabling them in one hit (wow that's a suprisingly technical explanation for an insult).
Now, is it ever good to be a bitch?
Absurdism.
It's like calling someone a Butt Burglar.
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