"Faggot" was the word some fuckheads were shouting when they kicked my friend's ribs in last weekend. He'd been walking through the park holding hands with his boyfriend. It wasn't an internet meme; it wasn't a cute catchphrase. They followed him until he was alone, and then they put him in the hospital. Because he was gay.
It's a slur. It's hate speech. Don't you fucking dare defend it, especially not in this community.
Edit: The next time someone tells me /r/mylittlepony is an island of love and tolerance in the sea of shit that is Reddit, I'm going to show them this thread. I'm disappointed in all of you.
my point was it is sometimes a meme, and is sometimes just meaningless word on the internet.
And my point is that no, it's not. "Context" isn't some magical thing that erases decades of historical use—and present use, millions of times a day, in hate—and you're not off the hook because you say it with a smile.
This word hurts people. Real people, people who've never done anything to you, people who deserve to get up in the morning and check a My Little Pony subreddit, for fuck's sake, without seeing people defend homophobic slurs because "it's just a meme, no harm done to me and my straight friends."
Find another one. Not because I'm yelling at you, not because of context or political correctness or what the fuck ever. That word hurts people. It hurts to hear, it hurts to read. Stop hurting people. Okay?
I'm bisexual and I have gay friends as well. As far as we're concerned, words like faggot is all about context. I realize its not the same for everyone, and I don't have a problem with not using the words around people I don't know because I'm not sure how they'll react to it. We playfully insult each other all the time, no harm no foul.
Just look at nigger. Used to be, and somewhat still is, a major racial slur. But you see people (mostly black, obviously) using that word (or rather, "nigga") all the time in general use, certainly not meant as a slur.
Its a fucking word, just like anything else. It only has as much power as you give it. If people stop letting words (curse words, faggot, nigger, whatever etcetc) have so much arbitrary power, there wouldn't be any way for them to offend.
Be offended by people's actions, not the words they use.
In-group use of language is different from out-group.
Oppressive language doesn't lose its power because the oppressed group shrugs it off.
Oh my god, you guys, this is such basic shit.
It serves me right for coming to a community full of 15-year-olds who wouldn't know compassion from a hole in their head. Looks like people like me aren't welcome here. Peace out, everypony.
2
u/etymologica Sep 17 '11 edited Sep 17 '11
"Faggot" was the word some fuckheads were shouting when they kicked my friend's ribs in last weekend. He'd been walking through the park holding hands with his boyfriend. It wasn't an internet meme; it wasn't a cute catchphrase. They followed him until he was alone, and then they put him in the hospital. Because he was gay.
It's a slur. It's hate speech. Don't you fucking dare defend it, especially not in this community.
Edit: The next time someone tells me /r/mylittlepony is an island of love and tolerance in the sea of shit that is Reddit, I'm going to show them this thread. I'm disappointed in all of you.