xerox Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 I've been a member of this great forum for a while now, and browsing through it for information is a daily routine for me :) It is a well organized forum, with very clear rules regarding racism and victimization. But from time to time I come across posts from members describing things they hate or dislike as "gay"... Obvously this has no deeper meaning, but it still bugs me. And now I've had it. It's time for a reality check guys. What's up with throwing the word "gay" around like some kind of synonym for "crap"?? I would like to see someone using the word "jewish" the same way without being banned. This is the kind of stuff that hurt people's feelings, and adds to the feeling of not being accepted as equal individuals. Gays are still very much victimized, and growing up as gay is a bit harder than most people think. No need to add to the burden by using the word "gay" like this. Besides, phrases like "My monitor is gay" and "Microsoft is obviously gay" just look plain stupid! I therefore suggest the following: - An addition to the forum rules: "No Racism, Sexism or Homophobia, No Threatening, No (citing) Victimization (via PM) or Hateful posts" - Think about what you say, words have great power. PLUR ;) (And guys, this is meant as constructive criticism, if you need to flame me: email me, I can take it!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessejlt Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Interesting........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 i know what you mean, the word "gay" has yet a new meaning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dacbo Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 i agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timan Veteran Posted July 16, 2002 Veteran Share Posted July 16, 2002 Originally posted by username i know what you mean, the word "gay" has yet a new meaning i agree. if you dont like it dont read it. we all know everyone on neowin is full of crap :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesseract Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 yes, people are giving the word "gay" a negative connotation (i am not saying that gay is good or bad here), and it is kinda offensive to gays. i guess we will see..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroChaos Veteran Posted July 16, 2002 Veteran Share Posted July 16, 2002 i agree, and try to refrain from using that word. it may not mean much to most of you, but if you have a friend or know someone is homosexual, it can mean something to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threetonesun Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 I agree. People seem to have subconciously accepted this word to mean something other than a)happy or b)homosexual. On the other hand, it gets brought up all the time that regardless of whether or not that is the original intent, people get hurt by hearing the word gay used in a negative content. Also...try this: "My monitor is gay" "Microsoft is obviously gay" Now replace gay with either of its real meanings. Now who's the idiot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intensityx Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 I agree, people that use the word gay in that manner are very immature and ignorant. The use of the word as a negative connotation should be banned from neowin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Explicative Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Well, here's the thing. See, I could say, "stop being a hypersensitive baby and learn to roll with the punches like everyone else," but it's much more concise for me to say, "don't be gay." That's a joke, but not really, if you get my drift. Lighten up, using "gay" to describe something that sucks has nothing to do with homosexuals, at least when I use it. It's like people getting in a huff over the word "<< racial epithet >>rdly" because it sounds like "<< racial epithet >>." Granted, the negative connotation people use for "gay" might have originally derived from the word to describe homosexuals, but I think the word has grown to the point where it is no longer parasitic on that meaning. So, as far as I'm concerned, the word "gay" that denotes homosexuals and the word "gay" that denotes something that sucks are two different words that happen to be homonyms, nothing more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwarren Veteran Posted July 16, 2002 Veteran Share Posted July 16, 2002 Its just a word that is acclaimed cos people use it for something that they dont like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BroChaos Veteran Posted July 16, 2002 Veteran Share Posted July 16, 2002 i don't think rationalizing slurs is the correct solution. should we go around calling things jewish? no. there are many other slurs that could be used to describe something in a negative manner, but they are not permitted here. and neither should this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persianpsycho Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Society has corrupted us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThisSiteHasLostItsCharm Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 ...you could say this thread is g....na j/k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerkPY Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Hmmm.... i see your point. But why do people need so say 'this thread is gay' in the first place? If it is 'gay' don't reply. Simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwarren Veteran Posted July 16, 2002 Veteran Share Posted July 16, 2002 Originally posted by BroChaos i don't think rationalizing slurs is the correct solution. should we go around calling things jewish? no. there are many other slurs that could be used to describe something in a negative manner, but they are not permitted here. and neither should this. Yeh i know wot u mean but its just become part of modern day language for those under 30 heh, why would u call people "Jewish" anyway, Jewish people aren't bad but gay people are considered to be bad by many people :( cause its out of the norm, stupid but "thats just the way it is" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intensityx Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Originally posted by Explicative Well, here's the thing. See, I could say, "stop being a hypersensitive baby and learn to roll with the punches like everyone else," but it's much more concise for me to say, "don't be gay." That's a joke, but not really, if you get my drift. Lighten up, using "gay" to describe something that sucks has nothing to do with homosexuals, at least when I use it. It's like people getting in a huff over the word "<< racial epithet >>rdly" because it sounds like "<< racial epithet >>." Granted, the negative connotation people use for "gay" might have originally derived from the word to describe homosexuals, but I think the word has grown to the point where it is no longer parasitic on that meaning. So, as far as I'm concerned, the word "gay" that denotes homosexuals and the word "gay" that denotes something that sucks are two different words that happen to be homonyms, nothing more. Fools like this take some sort of pride in their own ignorance and bigotry and expect that everyone else should just put up with it. People like this are full of excuses and full of crap as far as I'm concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimeryme Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 apogee, I share your view in that it may be offensive to some. I for one limit my use of foul language on forums to a minimum. the written word can be very clear if you want it to be. I'm afraid I can't say the same about my day to day speech however. still, I'm mindful of who I'm around so I would not offend in speaking unless I mean to. :evil: i believe neowin can exist without such comments. banning for usage though may not be the best solution. perhaps the word can be edited out automatically. yeah, this potentially discriminates useful threads as gay is not a bad word, rather the word is used badly. :right: i'm sure the mods will come to some viable solution to eliminate the offense of such remarks. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzla Veteran Posted July 16, 2002 Veteran Share Posted July 16, 2002 This also has a lot to do with the maturity and age of the Neowin members, a high proportion of the users are under 16 and it's an expression of something negative for them. It's become part of their common language, latest example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomwarren Veteran Posted July 16, 2002 Veteran Share Posted July 16, 2002 Originally posted by intensityx Fools like this take some sort of pride in their own ignorance and bigotry and expect that everyone else should just put up with it. People like this are full of excuses and full of crap as far as I'm concerned. I wouldnt say that I think i know where he is coming from in the fact that the word is not longer used to describe homosexuals. I don't use it for that when i say something is "gay" however people may use it if they are describing someone as being homosexual. Its fading from that but I think it will keep its double meanings 1. Homosexual Man/Woman and 2. Something that is considered to be stupid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 i know i have posted the "this thread is gay" image a few time, but i dont do it because i have anything against gays, it just has a new meaning, but if a lot of people have a problem with it, i will understand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravager Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Here's what I'm thinking. We use "gay" these days to describe something undesirable simply because most of us are homophobic. I don't prefer gays, so I won't be marching in the pride parade with them, but if one sat next to me I wouldn't be uncomfortable. If we want to stop using "gay", wouldn't we have to stop: Using "idiot" or "idiotic", because after all... An idiot is: A person of profound mental retardation having a mental age below three years and generally being unable to learn connected speech or guard against common dangers. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive. Wouldn't that be offensive? What about moron? A moron is: Psychology. A person of mild mental retardation having a mental age of from 7 to 12 years and generally having communication and social skills enabling some degree of academic or vocational education. The term belongs to a classification system no longer in use and is now considered offensive. That even states it's also offensive. Technically, these are offensive words because they describe retarded people, yet we use them in our everyday lives? You know what's the difference though? When we say someone's a moron or an idiot, we don't mean they have a mental disability, we mean they're foolish. Same with gay. When we say something's "gay" we don't mean it in a homophobic way. We're stating that it's undesirable. Why? Because sadly the world is naturally homophobic. So why be preoccupied with "gay" and not "moron" or "idiot"? Because, since we're homophobic, we pay close attention to the usage of "gay". Honestly, how many of you are anti-retarded people or regularly think about retarded people? I'd be surprised if any of you said "I do." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazydesert Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Originally posted by Timan we all know everyone on neowin is full of crap :) i've been saying that for months ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessejlt Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 I get so tired of people that complain about every little thing in life when there are so many other productive things they could be doing with their time, I guess we'll have to setup the word censor to remove gay, since some people are crying about it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Explicative Posted July 16, 2002 Share Posted July 16, 2002 Fools like this take some sort of pride in their own ignorance and bigotry and expect that everyone else should just put up with it. People like this are full of excuses and full of crap as far as I'm concerned. Try thinking for a moment instead of dismissing what I said based on your knee-jerk reaction to anything that hints of un-PC thought. The word "gay" is not just a single word in the abstract: the only way to determine what word is being used is to disambiguate according to context. For instance, besides its new meaning as something that "sucks," there are mainly two other meanings associated with "gay." One of them is "mirthful and happy," and the other one is "homosexual." Now, if you are reading a poem by some romantic such as Wordsworth or Shelley and you come across the word "gay," it is pretty much guaranteed that what is meant is the former meaning (mirthful) rather than the latter (homosexual). The secondary meaning didn't exist at that time, but when "gay" became associated with "homosexual" the original meaning of "mirthful" still persisted. Is this homophobic then, by implying that all gay people are somehow mirthful? Obviously not. The explanation is that there are two different words with completely different meanings that happen to use the same string of letters and pronunciation when they are communicated. In the case of "gay" being used interchangeably with something bad, the same thing has happened, it's a new word. This is how language evolves, stop trying to regulate it and get over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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