"That's so gay" controversy

[Alexandre Enkerli]

Some examples from Quebec French.

Disclaimer: I don't consider myself homophobic. Those of my friends
(and my wife's friends) who are homosexuals have told me that they
considered me "far from" homophobia. Diverse sexual orientations are
typically accepted, in Quebec, at least by The Mainstream. Homophobic
statements are condemned very quickly and accusations of homophobia
are quite damning.

We have several words related to homosexuality. «Gai» ("gay") seems to
be used mostly for the "technical" meaning of men and women who are in
stable homosexual unions. FOr instance, the "gay pride" festival is
«fierté gaie» and the "gay village" is «village gai». In both cases,
homosexual men are more prominently named than homosexual women but
«gaie» applied to a woman tends to really be a "technical" meaning,
with neutral connotations. This, to me, is the same sense that is
applied to homosexual women, in the U.S. while "gay" used for a men
can be more ambiguous.
>From French «pédéraste» we used to have «pédé», which is more
derogative and potentially linked to pedophilia. It might still be
current among younger people. When I was young, it had been redefined
as the abbreviation "P.D." presumably standing for «pas déniaisé»
("inexperienced"). Overall, «pédé» had direct links to sexuality and
was clearly pejorative in all cases. It has, to my knowledge, never
been applied to women.
«Tapette» ("fly swatter") was (and is probably still) used as a term
for effeminate men with some assumption that such a man might be
homosexual. It used to be associated with cowardice. While sexual
connotations did surround the term, the main link was with effeminate
behaviour, typical of some homosexual men (who were also called
«tapette»). Some homosexual friends used «tapette» to designate
closeted homosexual men.
«Fif» is, AFAICT, specific to Quebec. It was more directly related to
male homosexual relationships but it came to mean pretty much "lame"
as in the "that's so gay" controversy. It has pretty much stopped
referring to homosexual men when it came to mean "lame." In known
cases where «fif» is used to designate a homosexual man, it tends to
be used in a homophobic context such as a schoolyard where pre-teens
are negotiating their gender identity. Most current uses I know of the
word «fif» have lost any sexual connection. A friend even uses
«fifure» («fif»-ness) to mean "lameness" in inanimate objects. I don't
know him to be homophobic and he's an engineer-type electroacoustic
composer. As lame, «fif» can be used for women although «poche»
("pocket") tends to be more gender-neutral.

Interestingly enough (to me), the word "straight" is ambiguous, in
Quebec French. It can mean "heterosexual" as it does in U.S. English
but it usually means "strict" or "serious." The opposite of
"fun-loving," say. IMHO, the "serious" meaning predates the
"heterosexual" one. In European varieties of French, AFAICT, the
"serious" meaning has never caught and the "heterosexual" one is quite
recent.

To state my opinion in the "controversy" at hand. I think that notions
of lexical determinism could be dangerous. Someone who suffers from
homophobia might use any term to denigrate any homosexual. Homosexuals
have been using different terms to label themselves. Words have
implications in context.
Am I too naïve? Or just too fif?
;-)



On 3/12/07, Robert Lawless <robert.lawless at wichita.edu> wrote:
>
>  I certainly haven't heard that in a long, long while. Has it completely
> gone out of style? Or is it just that I have no acquaintance with private
> boys' schools?
>
>
>  At 10:00 AM 3/12/2007, Kephart, Ronald wrote:
>
> All this reminds me of my first teaching job, at an exclusive private boys'
>  school here in Jacksonville, Florida, 1969-70. On any day that I didn't
>  assign homework, somebody was sure to say "that's really white of you, Mr.
>  Kephart."
>
>  Ron
>


-- 
Alexandre
http://enkerli.wordpress.com/