Contents:
- WHAT DO “UY” MEAN? THE ORIGS OF THE TERM “U” TO SCRIBE A GAY MAN
- F (SLANG) - ORIG AND HISTORIL USAGE - AS GAY SLANG
WHAT DO “UY” MEAN? THE ORIGS OF THE TERM “U” TO SCRIBE A GAY MAN
Much like the words queen and queer, “u” is a slur that has been hurled agast gay men for s. But over time, gay men have begun to reclaim the word the same way that “queen” and “queer” have bee an nocuo part of our lexin, and today e as a term of enarment rather than a rogatory ment on one’s effemacy and attractn towards other men. Ironilly, the term may have origated om the gay muny self.
Pretty soon, Bra’s gay muny adopted this , transformg to a “vehicle for mpery, bchs, filthy jok, and nuendo”. The word “u” was jt one of many slang words that gay men would throw at each other to poke fun at their effemacy.
The evolutn of this slang was perhaps not unlike that of the Amerin gay lgo that n be traced back to the drag and ballroom culture of the 1980s, where “readg” was, as RuPl says, fundamental. At the time, homosexualy was nsired viant – a mental illns to be rrected through lobotomi, electroshock treatment, and chemil stratn. Over time, the words “u” and “uke” beme ls of an si joke the gay muny and more of a weapon that straight people uld e to remd gay people of their otherns.
F (SLANG) - ORIG AND HISTORIL USAGE - AS GAY SLANG
For some olr gay men who lived through this era, the term “u” is as hurtful and offensive as the term “f*ggot”. Soon after, the term beme a popular homophobic slur, meant to rerce the ia that gay men were sexual viants.
Some argue that gay people shouldn’t even be llg themselv queer, given all the pa that many olr gay men still attach to . Or at least, the meang that homophob clung to when they hurled the words at .
And more than jt as a term of enarment, the reclaimed “u” uld be ed as a way to celebrate the softns, tenrns, and femy that gay men have felt wrong for so long.