FA's Latest Charge

FA is a joke, not surprising.. these cases usually become laughing stocks for a reason (my favorite is Ferdinand's choc ice tweet )

Speaking of Rio Ferdinand, anyone remember HIS little foray into homophobic slurs? What was his fine for it? (rhetorical question, there was none)

aford92 wrote:For goodness sake. Does anybody over the age of 10 actually get offended if they get called gay? Honestly, how over-sensitive do they think people are? Frankly if you're an adult and you get offended by somebody calling you a name then you need to have a good look at yourself, words DO NOT hurt, they have the power that you choose to give them. If you decide that words don't hurt you then they don't hurt, simple.

It's not about someone being offended for being called gay. It's about ending the stigma that is attached to being gay. For a very long time now, gay people have been prosecuted for their sexual orientation, and continue to be in most - if not all - of the world. Things are trending away from that, but I know at least in the US hate crimes against gays are higher than any other subgroup. The stigma has led to gay being an acceptable insult; just as you wouldn't want to be called ugly, or weak, or stupid, you supposedly wouldn't want to be called gay.

The problem isn't about people being offended when they're called these names - obviously any well-adjusted adult can shake that off and move on with their day. The problem is that as a culture, we are still promoting the idea that being gay is worse than being heterosexual. Part of removing that conception is attempting to remove the word from the realm of insults, regardless of whether or not the individual being attacked is offended.

@Franchise, this is precisely why I feel it is working. After the first Hangover movie, how many people do you know who started calling each other "retard" (with the emphasis moved the way Zach Galifianakis did it)? I don't think anyone in this world predicates their actions on what celebrities are doing, but movies, songs or individuals with a wide reach can have a subconscious impact MUCH greater than someone uttering a word in privacy can.

Considering the target demographic for these types of initiatives are adolescent and teenage males, removing the word from the public lexicon is a VERY important first step. Personally, in my limited contact with high-schoolers in recent years, I'd say it's been working. You hear much less throwing around of the words gay, f*****t, or retard than you did when I was in school just a few years ago. The reason is because these kids were coming up through middle school and being exposed to R-rated movies and pop culture in general at a time when those words weren't as freely used. I think you're severely underestimating the impact that pop culture can have on the public vocabulary.