The "f" word

[2243]

If it was a stranger saying it to another stranger... not much.

If it was someone close then what I'd do depends on who the person is.

 

[Lightsage]

^Same for me DF.

 

[Homoerectus]

What would be your reaction if someone used the N-word? Would you feel compelled to say something about that or let is pass without comment?

 

[ixthrock]

i use the word faggot all the time

i use it to describe myself, and, yes...

i'll use it disparagingly of gay men whose behavior i take issue with.

if someone's paying enough attention to criticize my use of it... then it has accomplished at least one goal.

as i said in another thread, let's police the hatred, not the language.
to me they are not one and the same.

 

[ixthrock]

...when somebody cuts you off in traffic and then hits the breaks or some shit like that, its hard not to say that.

i would consider that to be an offensive usage.
i have no problem with a word formerly meaning "happy." or a word meaning a bundle of sticks or (slang) a cigarette being appropriated to describe a homosexual. but when somebody uses the word "faggot" as another word for "asshole" or "idiot," that's when I have a problem. I only call straight people "faggot" if I'm lampooning the rigid, black-and-white nature of gender roles in our society.

 

[bluepheonix]

I really dont like the use of any word that implies that being gay is an insult, including faggot, queer, and even gay (e.g. thats so gay), I tend to pull people up on it too.

In the end it really depends on context, however I agree with DF in that there are certain words straight people should never say because of the baggage those words carry, whereas their use by the gay community i think is fine in a positive context where it is as though we have claimed those words and turned them around into endearment, it is kind of like the way some view the n word.

But all in all, i just dont like the sound of faggot, and thus tend not to use it.

 

[ixthrock]

yea i feel that.
I remember being kids on the playground before we knew what it meant. it was just a word. and by the time we're in middle school or junior high and you know what it means. you have to start the process of trying not to use it.

and for me like many others, its a long process.

on the lighter note, my gay close friend calls me a faggot all the time. and we crack up,

i guess its the same as when i call one of the white homeboys nigga. and we catch a chuckle.

you feel differently about it than i do because you don't proudly self-identify as "faggot."

how do/would you feel inside if some straight buddy of yours called you "faggot" to say, "quit being a dick," or "stop acting like a girl..."

one of our rather husky, straight regular customers came into the nursery a couple of days ago and I...well, i've been wearing a bright yellow plush hat that a friend bought me. It's a stylish hat, sort of - think "cartoon pimp." Anyway, the guy picked a flower off a nearby bush and handed it to me, telling me i needed to stick it into my hat...which I did. Later, the mexicans were telling me in broken english that I was "a woman," and one of them began improvising a tune around "maricon." None of which bothered me. To a straight guy, tho, it seems like the accusation of being "faggoty" is fightin' words.

 

[Fucker29]

I don't really have that much of an issue with the word. The world is what we make of it...same logic applies to language. As long as we keep connecting the word with that type of usage, it's never going to change.

I agree with what xthrock said..."let's police the hatred, not the language. to me they are not one and the same."
If you don't police the hatred, what good is it to police the language? The language is a mere sympton of the disease...and that disease is hatred. So if you don't treat the origin of the disease...it's pointless.

 

[gdude30]

Someone close calling me a faggot huh.

Let me put this in different scenarios'

"OMGZ LIEK HOW COULD YOU WE BEEN BEST FRANDS FOEVAH. I LIEK TOTALLY LOOKED UP TO YOU. FINE GO JUMP IN THAT LAKE OVER THERE AND NEVER COME BACK. YOU ARE SO NOT MY FRIEND ANYMORE. YOU HURTFUL JERK. I WILL DO THE MOST UNFORGIVABLE ACT EVER. DELETING YOU OFF MY MYSPACE"

((..God help this generation...))

At this time I can't come up with a smart remark to a situation like that.

The most honest thing I'd probably do is just say "Okay" and walk away. Maybe yawn. Or maybe I'm just yawning cause I'm lacking of the sleep factor. Or factors.

Darn, being unable to make smart remarks sucks.

 

[star-warrior]

 

[Fucker29]

How do you know someone has hatred without listening to their language?

Apart from when they're being physically violent.

You can't separate language from hatred like that IMO.

Language gives rise to acts in a lot of cases.

Language is an indicator of what may be to come.

We've had this discussion about the efficacy of language (or otherwise) ad nauseam regarding the Westboro Baptist Church BTW.

They're not totally seperated yes but they're still different. "Language is an indicator of what may be to come"...wich is another way of saying what I said...language is a symptom. It is a manifestation of that hatred or misperceptions. The most viable way, IMO, to truly change people's use, intentional or not, of certain words is by changing the way they THINK. If people change the way they think then they'll change their usage of language since a change has occured in people's very own mindset, in it's core.

Besides, one can perceive another person's hatred by his/her body language as well.

 

[ixthrock]

How do you know someone has hatred without listening to their language?

Apart from when they're being physically violent.

You can't separate language from hatred like that IMO.

Language gives rise to acts in a lot of cases.

Language is an indicator of what may be to come.

We've had this discussion about the efficacy of language (or otherwise) ad nauseam regarding the Westboro Baptist Church BTW.

yeah, what the fucker says - voice tone, body language. the true litmus test of this idea is when people use language as an excuse for physical violence. i.e, "you called me a nigger, so now I have to beat/kill you." This happens when we culturally assign semantic content to words that is equvalent to a black eye. Yes, there is power in speech behavior - and I think of the Incantors from Stephenson's novel Anathem when I say this - but as a pacifist i insist this must be countered with other speech if one is simply unable to ignore it and/or walk away.

 

[PreTTy PeTe]

if anyone calls me faggot

it might get violent

that's all

 

[LatinoSTAR]

i dont give a damn if someone says it to me, no matter who it is, or weather they mean it in a derogatory way, or in a friendly way, its just a word, i dont keep the haters on my mind...it dont botehr me one bit..