Can A Slur Ever Become Just Another Word???
Kobe "Faggot" Bryant (click pic)
Do you think the constant use of words like nigger, faggot & retard diminishes those word’s attachments to blacks, gays & the developmentally challenged? Once a slur becomes mainstream has it lost it’s power to demonize a certain group when it’s directed at people from all groups? Does a term of ridicule lose it’s steam with repetitious use? What are you thought? Please leave them in the comments section.
Michael 'Nigger" Richards w/Jesse Jackson (click pic)
Lady "Retarded" Gaga (click pic)
LeNair Xavier
I for one have used the terms “nigger” and “faggot”. I’ve used them with the ORIGINAL intention in mind – show someone is behaving in a manner that makes them the original loathsome intended meaning of that word. This way of using the word has been met with much debate directed at me. And I always fire back at the person showing issue with it by pointing out my intention. Because it is obvious that I don’t take those words lightly. So if I use them on a person, that person should take note that it means that they fucked up in a way that is setting back (mainly) the people the word was intended to represent. So when I call a black person a “nigger” it is because they are being a negative stereotype by doing something to present themselves as ignorant, uneducated, and void of class. And when I call a gay male a “faggot” it is because they are doing something that shows them to be void of manhood.
Do take note however that I have used both of those terms to not only refers to blacks and gays behaving as negative stereotypes. I have used those terms to refer to people who are neither Black or gay. One such example is my blog post “N*ggers- Extreme Public Saggers” where I purposely used pics of guys of various ethnicities to make my point.
All this to say that the meaning of these words is NEVER lost. And they shouldn’t be. For they are a reminder that we need to watch what we say, and make sure we use these words correctly. For it is the balance of nature – some words are meant to show beauty, therefore unfortunately, some must be meant to show ugliness.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 11:39 PM
Lotta Roti
I don’t think any word can be categorically this or that. It is the context – both social and textual – that gives it its meaning. People are, and have always been, very creative at using language, and social engineering by trying to control language doesn’t work well. (Just see the sarcastic use of i.e. military terms in military slang, or political jargon by disgruntled citizens).
Apr 27, 2011 @ 10:04 AM