Fwd: [Linganth] "That's so gay" controversy

[John McCreery]

On 3/12/07, Leila Monaghan <monaghan at indiana.edu> wrote:
>
> I've always thought that Konraad Kuiper's article on the language young
> men use to abuse each other in a New Zealand rugby team provides useful
> background to these insults.  These New Zealanders don't use
> gay-oriented slurs as much as female-oriented slurs (men calling each
> other "fucking slags" and "girl's blouses") but the result is very much
> the same, control of men and their sexuality.



I am curious about the turn the discussion is taking, assuming that "That's
so gay" is inherently homophobic and oppressive.  The only person I've
actually heard use the expression is my  30-year old Navy pilot, now a new
mom, daughter, who is one of the most absolutely non-homophobic people I
know. In her usage, it becomes a kind of rolling-the-eyes  equivalent of
"That's a crazy thing to say." It seems to be more or less equivalent to
"Are you high?" spoken in a sarcastic tone, which used to fill the same slot
in her conversational patterns.

All this is not to say that the expression was not coined in homophobic
circumstances (I simply don't know if that is the case). It does, however,
appear to be one of those cases in which slang may have dubious origins, but
actual usage doesn't imply the implications those origins suggest.

I am once again reminded of my friend Donald DeGlopper's remark re studies
of Chinese religion, where Don remarked that anthropologists tend to lump
together the local equivalents of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the
Easter Rabbit and treat them all with the same deadpan seriousness. Ah yes,
I thought to myself hearing Don say this, analysis as Borscht-belt humor.

John




-- 
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/linganth/attachments/20070312/c266477c/attachment.htm>