Homophobia
When did it become cool to use homophobic language again? When I was a kid, in the 80's, gay jokes were commonplace. Homosexuality was still a joke. But over the years, it came to seemingly be accepted and making gay jokes, or calling people derogatory variants of gay, fell out of use, or so it seemed to me.
However, at some point, people started calling each other "fag" and "faggot" with new levels of gusto. Is this an internet thing? I've heard that first person shooters and 4chan are big contributers to this, but I have no real experience with either of those, so I can't say. (You also have the Penny Arcade pair using "ghey"; mis-spelling it doesn't make it cool, guys.) I've heard a lot of feeble attempts to excuse this behavior, but it really is unacceptable. Like feminism, acceptance of homosexuality seems to be in decline.
We've come a long ways, still. Homosexual marriage is gradually becoming accepted. This pleases me greatly. The only real arguement against gay marriage is "It makes me uncomfortable," which is a pretty crappy arguement. Plenty of things make me uncomfortable, including religions that promote homophobic behavior, but I don't think they should be banned. Here's to freedom for all!
However, at some point, people started calling each other "fag" and "faggot" with new levels of gusto. Is this an internet thing? I've heard that first person shooters and 4chan are big contributers to this, but I have no real experience with either of those, so I can't say. (You also have the Penny Arcade pair using "ghey"; mis-spelling it doesn't make it cool, guys.) I've heard a lot of feeble attempts to excuse this behavior, but it really is unacceptable. Like feminism, acceptance of homosexuality seems to be in decline.
We've come a long ways, still. Homosexual marriage is gradually becoming accepted. This pleases me greatly. The only real arguement against gay marriage is "It makes me uncomfortable," which is a pretty crappy arguement. Plenty of things make me uncomfortable, including religions that promote homophobic behavior, but I don't think they should be banned. Here's to freedom for all!