Well, to be fair to the guy, it all depends on whether LP knows Miller is gay or not. Or knew.
Oh, and [people on the other side of the political specturm to me] are all morons.
I’m outraged, maybe!
No, you misunderstand. **LonesomePolecat ** is a conservative; therefore, he is a bigoted piece of shit. Do try to keep up with the argument of the thread, Rev.
Excellent point. But I’d be mighty surprised if a regular poster like Lonesome did not know that. If so, I’ll have to retract my scolding of him. If it was just the juvenile insult, well, no big deal. Of course, YMMV.
Not sure it makes that much difference. Its a personal insult that implies knowledge of gender more than sexuality, its an insult sharpened for a man. The insult is more that a man is weak and silly, that is the core insult, the gay stuff is just a bit of snark sauce.
Oh, I didn’t mean to imply that if he didn’t it’s not still an insult. Either way it’s saying “Haha, you’re gay, and that’s bad!”. If LP didn’t know he’s just (as others have said) a juvenile dick; if he did know, well, it becomes less comical and more unpleasant.
You think? Consider this for a moment:
Two white guys are working together. One of them is shiftless and not doing his job, and the other guy, fed up, says, “Stop acting like a lazy nigger!” Is that not a racist comment, just because the target is white?
So, if two straight guys are working together, and one of them is being catty, and the other says, “Stop acting like a snippy little faggot!” Is that not a homophobic comment, just because the target is straight?
I think it makes a difference. If a good friend of mine starts whining about something I might tell him to stop being such a pussy, or don’t be such a faggot. It is a shot at his masculinity. And as far as insults go, that’s completely fair game. Particuarly if I know him to be heterosexual. There’s no confusion. If the person is gay and you’re trying to level an insult, it registers that you think there is something wrong with his sexual preference.
On the other hand, I’ve heard gay people refer to other gay people as “that little faggot”. Whi9ch I take to be not an insult against his sexual preference, but against some character flaw, e.g., whining, being overly sensitive and bitchy, etc.
All I know is that I wouldn’t use the term other than among people I knew well enough to know for a fact that they were not gay. Not that I can recall the last time it came up.
Well, I honestly don’t think it is the same thing. The word is not synonymous with homosexual, in my mind, any way. It points to a lack of masculinity. There are plenty of gays that I know that don’t fit the “faggot” label. Is it juvenile? Undoubtedly. But if you are going to insult someone you seek to undermine a perception he has of himself that is foundational. If my friend takes great pride in being smart, I call him an imbecile; if he fashions himself a good writer, I call him a hack; if he fashions himself a tough guy on the b-ball court and whines about little tiny fouls incesantly, I’ll tell him him to “Stop being such a pussy. Now take the ball out you little faggot and show me what you got.”
I don’t see it as a big deal in that regard. But I am interested in your response to what I wrote above.
I think we should go juvenile to the max and start referring to him as LonesomePoleSmoker.
Well, I’d like to think that I afford every poster a modicum of respect until they prove themselves unworthy. Congrats, LP. I now have no respect for you whatsoever. That little comment upthread IMO, makes you an unmitigated jerk.
I think the word “faggot” is rapidly approaching “nigger” as being something that is just unsayable. It’s an epithet, and I wouldn’t use it to insult a straight guy. Hell, I wouldn’t use it to insult a girl.
I’ll call someone an imbecile all day long though.
Well, if it takes them that long to catch on…
It is one of those odd and curious things that ‘faggot’ has the same etymology as ‘fascism’. No, really.
Kinda flies in the face of reality, though. “Nigger” is probably a more commonly voiced word than ever, especially in certain music and urban settings. And I’m told that variations of “faggot” are extremely common in high schools, on game sites, and so forth. It’s only little corners of the universe like Stormfront where words like “nigger” are summarily banned. (I think they still allow “faggot”, though it is discouraged.)
This totally doesn’t compute. You’re saying that ‘nigger’ is banned on Stormfront? What, has the white supremacist movement been taken over by Ned Flanders?
From the Stormfront “Guidelines for Posting”:
Huh. I guess they’re trying to be taken seriously?
Sorry, but that’s bullshit. Check any dictionary. The word “faggot” only has two definitions. One is a bundle of sticks. The other is a derogatory word for homosexual men. That’s specifically why it’s an insult: when you call someone a faggot, you’re saying that they like to have sex with other guys. The connotation of unmanliness is precisely because homosexuals are stereotyped as weak and effeminate.
So? There are plenty of blacks who don’t fit the “nigger” label. That doesn’t make the word non-insulting.
And again, the reason it undermines someone’s masculinity is that being homosexual is stereotyped as being unmasculine. That’s specifically why it’s an insult. Absent the definition of, “homosexual male,” you’ve just called your friend a bundle of sticks. Which is a sort of weird put-down.
Well, as far as big deals go, I don’t really care what people say when they’re horsing around with their friends. I’ve got (straight) friends who call each other, and me, fag all the time, and worse. They’re using it ironically, I know they’re using it ironically, they know that I know they’re using it ironically. It’s all cool and ironic and no harm done. LonesomePolecat wasn’t using it ironically, he was using it as an unambiguous insult. Wether or not he knows I’m gay (and I’d lay odds that he does), he was using it in a homophobic manner.
They probably just don’t want to offend anyone.