It Matters What You Say
Monday, July 23, 2007 12:22“That’s so gay.”
and
“She’s such a witch!”
How many of my straight friends are guilty of saying “That’s so gay!”? C’mon… don’t be shy. I’ve heard you do it. You’re BUSTED. :) Now think… what EXACTLY did you mean when you said that? Why use the word gay? When confronted, one person answered “because… that’s just what you say.”. Unfortunately, our society has not really made a habit of piling nonsensical words into sentences just for the sake of doing it.
Gay means two things… happy and/or homosexual. Let’s assume that you didn’t mean “That’s so happy!”. And because the term “That’s so gay” usually refers to something that is “not masculine or macho”, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that usage of the word PROBABLY came from the fact that it’s defined as meaning “homosexual”.
So… if you’re using a term for homosexual in a condescending way towards something… or in a manner that is meant to degrade the value of something, what does that say about your opinion of homosexuality? And if you’re answer is “but I don’t think ANYTHING negative about people who are homosexuals… I just use it because everyone uses it” - then your next response should be to stop using that phrase. It’s a phrase that comes from a part of our society that looks down on homosexuality.
I have the same rant prepared for derogatory uses of the word witch but I’ll spare you the length and just expect that you’ll apply it here. I’m a witch. I’m not ugly or mean or stupid or backwoods. If you don’t think anything negative of the people who are witches, then don’t use the term ‘witch’ as a derogatory term. And no… I don’t just ‘know’ that you mean the stereotypical witch on a broomstick with a wart on her nose and at all black hat. That stereotype came about because society thought horrible things about witches.
