by Jordan Redman Staff Wrer Do you know what the word gay really means? The word gay dat back to the 12th century and om the Old French “gai,” meang “full of joy or mirth.” It may also relate to the Old High German “gahi,” meang impulsive.
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”
The phrase “that’s so gay” has tradnally been unrstood as homophobic. Stonewall’s School Report argued this posn, and will be discsed their upg Edutn Conference. Stonewall argu… * that's gay origin *
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? 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.
"THAT'S SO GAY" IS JT SO WRONG
* that's gay origin *
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.
THE HISTORY OF THE WORD “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.
THAT'S SO GAY
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. 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?
GAY (ADJ.)
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”.
THE ORIGS OF THE WORD ‘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.
THE COMPLEXY OF ‘THAT'S SO GAY'
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.