I would like to address a comment which came up in response to my post about the homophobia experiment.
Really, I think that when you cause a fuss over someone using "gay" in a derogatory and otherwise non-homophobic manner, you just draw more negative attention to homosexuality. "Lame," a previously-used description for basically the same thing you're discussing, used to mean crippled, and it basically worked itself out of the general lexicon, as "gay" most likely will as well.
I understand what he is saying: that there are plenty of other nasty words out there and that they usually fade out with time. In this experiment, I chose to only focus on the homophobic terms because I felt more passionate about bringing to like the disgusting use of those words specifically.
Also, I do realize that the use of such words would eventually die out on its own, but I just don’t think that we should have to wait.
In addition, I don’t think that talking about the negative use of these words will necessarily make the problem worse. I believe that quite the opposite should happen. I believe that by pointing out how disturbed I am by the negative use of these words, people will stop and think that maybe, just maybe, they should make an effort to stop doing this.
However, this is an experiment, so my hypothesis could very well be wrong. That is how I’ve learned that experiments work since my beginning years of school, after all.
Please tell me what you all think by commenting!
-H.S.R.
Calling something gay or queer is very hurtful as a negative word. It is a judgement made by tone or context.
My Blog: www.progressiveu.org/blog/jlepp-journey
i agree with you! and think that using the word "gay" in some contexts shows ignorance. furthermore, i think that an essential part of getting over this "fad" of using the word "gay" is to create dialogue about it. Since the word is now ingrained in our minds as a slang term and everyday speech as replacing words such as "lame" or "ridiculous," I think that the realization that the word affects people, whether they are homosexual or not, may help to change people's usage.