When homosexualy was illegal up until 1967 the Gay Communy had to e our very own language. Polari first me about the theatre and the gay subculture Bra the 1950s and 1960s
Contents:
- REDISVERG POLARI: HOW THIS SECRET GAY LANGUAGE HELPED CREATE LGBT CULTURE
- POLARI: THE LOST LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN
- REDISVERG POLARI: HOW THIS GAY DIALECT IS A MAP OF FOTTEN SUBCULTUR
- POLARI, THE FOTTEN GAY LANGUAGE
- REMEMBERG POLARI, THE FOTTEN LANGUAGE OF BRA'S GAY COMMUNY
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLARI, GAY ENGLAND’S ONCE-SECRET LGO
REDISVERG POLARI: HOW THIS SECRET GAY LANGUAGE HELPED CREATE LGBT CULTURE
Heavily ed by Brish gays the 1920s bee of anti-homosexual laws, efforts are beg ma to prerve an entirely queer-based slang. * polari gay *
Wh words like "sha, " "tea, " and "kiki" proment queer culture, sometim feels like 's impossible for straights to unrstand gays... But once upon a time, that was exactly what Brish gays wanted. Called Polari, the gay slang is posed of back slang, circ slang, and broken Yiddish and Italian.
The "secret language" was ed heavily by gays the circ, navy, and theater, and arose out of the need to discs gay matters unr a clever guise, due to homosexual acts beg illegal Bra until the passage of the Sexual Offens Act 1967.
POLARI: THE LOST LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN
The word "ferridooza" is a perfect example of how Polari, a secret language for gay men, was created out of many subculture dialects. * polari gay *
Here's some of the amg slang: Basket - the bulge of male genals through clothFantabulos-wonrfulEf - face (backslang) DollyEf - pretty face Chicken - a young guySome Polari words still exist morn gay slang. As gays began to fight for acceptance and rights, they ma a ncentrated effort to remove the Brish society's one-dimensnal view of all gays as beg overly mpy and effemate.
Check out Atlas Obscura pots out, Polari was a great self-performative outlet for Brish gays to not only exprs themselv but also easily intify and n wh fellow memebers of the queer muny. Such is the story of Polari, the secret d language ed by gay men the UK om the 1920s-70s. Comg to s own the late 1940s, Polari was the secret dialect of the unrground gay scene, allowg men to nverse eely about themselv and their sexual activi a time when they uld be imprisoned for their sexualy.
REDISVERG POLARI: HOW THIS GAY DIALECT IS A MAP OF FOTTEN SUBCULTUR
* polari gay *
In Queer London, a book documentg the history of gay culture the cy, thor Matt Houlbrook scrib Polari as “a way of creatg a space which to be queer, ” and nothg uld be more te. Lally-drags are troers, and sheh — adapted om the French chichi — means showy, overly affected and gay. “Fsy” also lacks the nuance of sheh, an adjective that scrib the troers both visually and culturally, bee if somethg is sheh is also herently gay.
POLARI, THE FOTTEN GAY LANGUAGE
Once monly spoken by gay men across London, Polari has largely fallen out of e. But s fluence ntu to endure to this day—even makg a surprise appearance Bowie's last album. * polari gay *
* Although the term “drag” (meang men drsg women’s clothg) dat back to 1800s theatre termology, by bg wh the word “queen” or “quean” (which was a self-intifier for gay men London the mid 1800s-mid 1900s), Polari speakers created the current meang of the term “drag queen”: Queer men/people who drs women’s clothg for entertament. Polari: The Lost Language of Gay Men.
Maly gay men, although also lbians, female impersonators, theatre people, prostut and sea-queens (gay men the merchant navy).
REMEMBERG POLARI, THE FOTTEN LANGUAGE OF BRA'S GAY COMMUNY
It was not limed to gay men, however. Straight people who were nnected to the theatre also ed , and there are numero s of gay men teachg to their straight iends. bch - tty gay man or to pla.
omi-palone - gay man. Polari - to talk, or the gay language self.
tra - a gay sex partner, often one who don't nsir himself to be gay.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLARI, GAY ENGLAND’S ONCE-SECRET LGO
Most monly, the 1930s-1970s, private gay drkg tablishments, particularly London.
There are numero reasons: as a form of protectn and secrecy - exclud outsirs who wouldn't be able to tell what you were talkg about, and allowed gay people to nceal their sexualy. It was a form of humour and mp performance, and also a way of iatg people to the gay or theatre subculture.
It allowed s ers to nstct a view of realy based upon their own valu, or to give nam to thgs that mastream culture hadn't regnised (such as certa forms of gay sex). Why don't gay people e now?