"That's so gay"

[mardukm]

Has anyone seen that new commercial that criticizes the phrase “That’s so gay?”

I agree with the message insofar as the idea that “gay” means “stupid.”

But I don’t like it’s attempt to impose that idea on others. The fact is, I believe the majority of people who say “That’s so gay,” or “Dude, that’s gay,” use the term “gay” to mean “effeminate.” Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Snugglebugmom]

I have a problem with any term that is meant to be derogatory. If you mean effeminate, just say effeminate.

 

[mardukm]

I have a problem with any term that is meant to be derogatory. If you mean effeminate, just say effeminate.

Why would it be derogatory to equate “gay” with “effeminate?”

I know women who often joke, “stop being such a man.” No big deal.

 

[Newbie2]

Well, let’s see…

“Gay” was appropriated to mean homosexual from the perfectly good meaning of “joyous”, “happy”, etc.

So why can it not be appropriated to mean “stupid”, “dumb”, “unworthy”, or whatever else it may come to mean?

“Effeminate” is not a term that I can see a 6th grader using. LOL. “Dude, that’s so effeminate!” just doesn’t have that ring to it.

Of course, the commercial is directed against anything that is critical of homosexuality in any way, shape or form i.e. equating the word “gay” with anything negative.

 

[Middleman]

If a demographic group says a term is offensive to them, then what’s so hard about avoiding it? The English language has a vast vocabulary.

 

[Newbie2]

If a demographic group says a term is offensive to them, then what’s so hard about avoiding it? The English language has a vast vocabulary.

Exactly. So why did they appropriate “gay”? Homosexual works just fine. I find it offensive that they use “Gay”, as it was a perfectly good word before it’s meaning got changed.

Hey, we Christians should be offended and should demand that they stop using it meaning “homosexual”:

*It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you “Be of good cheer”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap- happiest season of all *

 

[mardukm]

Well, let’s see…

“Gay” was appropriated to mean homosexual from the perfectly good meaning of “joyous”, “happy”, etc.

Agreed

So why can it not be appropriated to mean “stupid”, “dumb”, “unworthy”, or whatever else it may come to mean?

I wouldn’t agree since “gay” is used to denote a class of persons.

“Effeminate” is not a term that I can see a 6th grader using. LOL. “Dude, that’s so effeminate!” just doesn’t have that ring to it.

. Understood. But I think a 6th grader (even a 1st grader) would already have an understanding of what boys and girls are. For instance, if they see a boy wearing a dress and say “that’s so gay.” Here’s a relevant story. One day, I was playing “Snow White” with my two nieces. Neither wanted to be the evil witch, so I was the witch. The five-year-old wanted to be the Princess, and that left the role of the Prince to the three-year-old. She proceeded to pout throughout the role-playing. After the story, I asked her why she looked so sad, and then she broke down in tears saying, “I’M NOT A BOY!” Adorable.

Blessings

 

[Middleman]

Exactly. So why did they appropriate “gay”? Homosexual works just fine. I find it offensive that they use “Gay”, as it was a perfectly good word before it’s meaning got changed.

Hey, we Christians should be offended and should demand that they stop using it meaning “homosexual”:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you “Be of good cheer”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap- happiest season of all

It’s too late to shut the barn gate once the cow has run away…

 

[Aquinas62]

at the risk of being uncharitable, “Gay” activists for years have been denigrating people of faith. maybe it is time to stop being so passive… Turning the other cheek does not mean that people of faith have to wear a metaphorical sign on their backs saying “KICK ME!!!”

 

[celticsfan1983]

I took the commercial to mean we should all be sad instead of happy

 

[Mel_Stones]

First of all I agree with Newbie2 in that gay should mean happy as it used to but there’s no way we can change the meaning back.

As someone who in the eight grade (8 years ago) routinely used the phrase ‘that’s so gay’ to mean ‘that’s so stupid’ - I see no problem with using gay to mean stupid. It was and apparently still is slang. Besides banning a meaning (making the use of ‘gay’ derogatorily punishable) just makes it all the more fun to say. Trust me I know, I got a 30 minute detention for saying ‘what’s gay?’ to a classmate who said ‘that’s g-a-y’. I didn’t regret my use of the term even remotely (and still don’t). I think it is hilarious that I got in trouble for misusing a term who’s definition has been changed. Meaning I could well have meant ‘what’s joyous’ but because the slang for gay is now stupid, I got in trouble.

 

[Joe_5859]

I have a problem with any term that is meant to be derogatory. If you mean effeminate, just say effeminate.

The problem remains, though, no matter what word you substitute in. The phrase would still be derogatory.

“That’s so gay.”
“That’s so effeminate.”
“That’s so stupid.”

No matter which phrasing one chooses, it still can be construed as a derogatory statement.

I haven’t seen the commercial, though. What happens in it?

 

[Joe_5859]

I guess I’m out of the loop. Apparently, there’s a whole campaign behind this commercial at thinkb4youspeak.com. (Normally, I’d link to it, but the site does contain some language that some of us might object to.)

It is rather ironic, though. It was perfectly acceptable for the word “gay” to be commandeered to mean something totally alien to its original meaning (“happy”), but now it’s not okay to change the meaning to anything else.

 

[Lujack]

“My teacher gave us a pop quiz at 8:00 in the morning!”
“Sorry to hear that man, that’s so Catholic.”

“…so he failed me.”
“Ugh. That’s so Negro.”

“…that guy’s a real jerk.”
“I agree. Totally Italian.”

That’s why. Its hurtful, and all it accomplishes is being hurtful. There is no defense for the practice, other than one based in the sinful attitude that because the Church proclaims homosexual sex to be wrong, all insults towards gays are acceptable.

Even if we accept the point (and I refuse to accept it in any way) that Catholics must always be confrontational and blunt in such a situation, there is no defense for the idea that Catholics should insult for the sake of insulting.

Otherwise, we should cheerfully accept phrases like popery, papist, mackerel-snapper, and Jesuitical.

 

[Roman_Army]

**First of all, I do not think any reasonable devout Catholic or even a reasonable devout Protestant would use the phrase “That’s so gay.” Why? Because “that’s so childish!” Oops… I guess I just said something derogatory to children.

The use of the phrase “That’s so gay,” simply stems from the fact that homosexuality is abnormal. So, when something is abnormal they say “That’s so gay.” However, usually by my experience it usually is used to describe something lame. And I guess according to your logic we cannot use the word “lame” either because it might offend those with a handicap. I agree “That’s so gay” shouldn’t be used, but not because some consider it derogatory when it isn’t, but simply because it is childish street slang. With that said, I am looking forward to the day when we can say “gay” and it no longer means “homosexual.” I’d like it to mean happy again, but since homosexuals got rid of that meaning, not it’s just something negative. The word “gay” now does not simply mean “homosexual” but it means “proud, open, active, and happy to be homosexual.”**

 

[Roman_Army]

Dude, that post was so Lujak.

 

[WillieWonka]

Exactly. So why did they appropriate “gay”? Homosexual works just fine. I find it offensive that they use “Gay”, as it was a perfectly good word before it’s meaning got changed.

Hey, we Christians should be offended and should demand that they stop using it meaning “homosexual”:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you “Be of good cheer”
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
It’s the hap-happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap- happiest season of all

Do you contend a living language shoud be frozen in 1950?

 

[Lujack]

Exactly. So why did they appropriate “gay”? Homosexual works just fine. I find it offensive that they use “Gay”, as it was a perfectly good word before it’s meaning got changed./QUOTE}

No living gay person was involved in that change of the language, so it isn’t really relevant. Are we really going to defend callously hurtful remarks over linguistics?

 

[Roman_Army]

**Personally, I think we should bring back the original meaning of gay.

Reporter: “You just won the 350 million dollar lottery jackpot, how do you feel?”

Winner: “I am so gay!”

LOL. **

 

[mkingdomlvr]

“My teacher gave us a pop quiz at 8:00 in the morning!”
“Sorry to hear that man, that’s so Catholic.”

“…so he failed me.”
“Ugh. That’s so Negro.”

“…that guy’s a real jerk.”
“I agree. Totally Italian.”

That’s why. Its hurtful, and all it accomplishes is being hurtful. There is no defense for the practice, other than one based in the sinful attitude that because the Church proclaims homosexual sex to be wrong, all insults towards gays are acceptable.

Even if we accept the point (and I refuse to accept it in any way) that Catholics must always be confrontational and blunt in such a situation, there is no defense for the idea that Catholics should insult for the sake of insulting.

Otherwise, we should cheerfully accept phrases like popery, papist, mackerel-snapper, and Jesuitical.

ITA.

Perhaps we should focus on teaching our children that calling their peers ANY derogatory name is wrong.