Speaking as a Crazy Faggot

[jimkeller]

There has been a lot of talk in the blogosphere and in the media lately about words. Advocates for the mentally ill have been gaining traction with educating people that the use of "crazy" as a generic insult is demeaning. Kobe Bryant was caught on tape calling a referee a "faggot," but in his non-apology stated that he was using the term as a

Comments

Context

[barriequark]

For me 'faggot' still means a bunch of wood tied together, so I don't quite get the problem. :) I don't insult actors by calling them actors, I call those particularly deserving drama queens 'talent'. LOL Lobe probably uses the N word amongst his team as well, so in context it probably wasn't seen as so awful to him. I imagine he wanted to use something much stronger, so obviously he saw that as a mild term as well. :)

Re: Context

[barriequark]

Kobe. Sigh. rented fingers.

Re: Context

[jimkeller]

I saw a play recently, called "Dear Harvey" (about the life and legacy of Harvey Milk), which gave the etymology of the term "faggot" to mean homosexual. The play stated that it came from the days when the punishment for homosexuality was burning at the stake. The fuel for the fire was, of course, provided by bundles of wood tied together, and the homosexual would then also burn. Hence, the homosexual was a "faggot."

I don't know if how supported this scenario is for the origin of the term (historically, in literature, etc.) but I thought it was quite interesting.

[mlerules]

Or "author?" ;-)

Yes - respect as humans is key.

Also, in case you haven't seen it, there's this.

[jimkeller]

I saw it in your LJ, and then (reading backwards) in Jay Lake's. It's definitely part of what got me thinking. Thanks!

[essentialsaltes]

It's tough. Culture and language is a behemoth with lots of inertia in it. And the crosscultural problems you note just make things even more complicated. I was surprised to find that people spaz out about spazHow many of us have even a fleeting mental image of gypsies when we say we were gypped? Or mutatis mutandis if a thing (rather than a person) is gay, lame, or retarded? I feel these words (in certain restricted applications) have reached or are close to reaching 'generic' status

[jimkeller]

We actually had a great deal of trouble when I was working for NASA and had a character who had to insult a fellow character coming up with terms that aren't actually terms of derision for certain disfavored groups or types of people. The end result was that IR-2 was a lot more creative in his cursing than most people are.

[stacymckenna]

Shakespearean, even?

http://www.insults.net/html/shakespeare/

[jimkeller]

Except that I'd never have been able to get away with something like "ratcatcher" -- using a profession as an insult.

[jimkeller]

Yeah, I will admit to having wondered if it's still OK to have a wild and crazy time...

[jsadler]

I see one MAJOR distinction between crazy and gay/fag/etc

[barriequark]

Something like - "Wow, you decorate like a gay!" and meaning it in a good way. :)

[eain]

SMBC said it well.