Urban Dictnary: That's so gay

Contents:

• THE TE MEANG BEHD “THAT’S SO GAY”
• "THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG
• THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”
• THAT'S SO GAY
• GAY (ADJ.)
• THE ORIGS OF THE WORD ‘GAY’
• THE COMPLEXY OF ‘THAT'S SO GAY'

THE TE MEANG BEHD “THAT’S SO GAY”

Stonewall argu that the phrase has a harmful effect on young lbian, gay and bisexual people’s tn and well-beg.

Yet the ial fdgs om my terviews wh 40 gay youth om four universi suggts a more plex picture, wh no clear agreement on what the phrase means or s effects.

” Siarly, Neil, gay and aged 18, said: “I don’t fd rogatory any way, probably bee I say as well. How are we to unrstand a phrase that olr people fd homophobic, but many younger people do not fd offensive and even e themselv?

"THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG

My tert the phrase “that’s so gay” veloped when I rearched straight male stunts at sixth form lleg. Given that labellg the stunts homophobic would be ridiculo, was val to nsir how they were g this language and the reasons why. For them, gay had two distct meangs which they were able to distguish between – when refers to sexual inty and when refers, separately, to somethg beg “bbish”.

I argued that straight men’s e of phras like “that’s so gay” uld only be unrstood by three key factors: first, the tent wh which was said; send, the social ntext (homophobic or otherwise); and third, the effect had.

THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “GAY”

But when is said settgs where sexual mori are out, proud and socially clud, and heterosexual men are iends wh their openly gay peers, tak on different meangs.

THAT'S SO GAY

This argument was supported by the narrativ of many of the 40 young gay people a study I am unrtakg wh lleagu at Durham Universy. Only a mory of participants – ls than a third – thought that the phrase was homophobic, and even fewer said that they never ed . Most of the young gay people my study felt “that’s so gay” would only be homophobic if was directed at a gay person, and wh negative tent.

GAY (ADJ.)

If young gay people are sayg that they do not experience the phrase “that’s so gay” as homophobic – and if they are even g the phrase themselv – then perhaps we should accept their arguments and ncentrate on other battl.

THE ORIGS OF THE WORD ‘GAY’

So, like, if ’s wh my iends and someone says “that’s so gay”; I know ’s a very different meang than a kid who jt tripped and another one said “that’s so gay”, you know what I mean?

THE COMPLEXY OF ‘THAT'S SO GAY'

Vidisha Sharma: I agree wh what Sofia said about nnotatn; if ’s someone gay, like myself, and I make jok like “oh my god that’s so gay” or “hahaha I’m so gay”. : Also, ’s jt bee people thk ’s quirky to say , like, “cê é tão gay, s viado” and that kd of stuff; ’s bee ’s popular and a lot of people are sayg .

From the terviews, is evint that the people on the other end of “that’s so gay” are hurt and repulsed by the mon e of the phrase. Some young adults might feel that is okay to e this phrase as a joke or an sult bee don’t affect them, and and feel that“long gone are the tim when gay people were opprsed”, but they are wrong.

In the news, ’s mon nowadays to see a child murred ld blood bee they told their parents they were gay, an example beg Anthony Avalos. This 10-year-old boy had e out as gay days before his murr and was found wh severe signs of physil harm cludg malnutrn, cigarette burns, and bis. Phrase ed to signify a stupid, unwanted, or weird ia.Fred: Let's all drs as ts for hallowenn!Sam: Du, that's gay.by hatersgonhatee November 1, 2010FlagGet the That's Gay mug.GayHappsSon: “what do gay mean”.