Say what?: The language of hate

I do it. You do it. We all do it. It's practically a societal norm. That's right people, everyday we use slang words that further oppress the already oppressed groups. What is it about our generation that we love to rally for change, but yet we continually use our mouths to drag ourselves straight back to the gutter of injustice? I've tried to stop. I've tried to stop others. But I'm afraid. It's so ingrained in us that if you try to stop, you're taking things to seriously. You're too sensitive. People will be afraid to make jokes around you. People will walk on egg shells around you. You'll lose all your friends. Still don't have a clue what I'm talking about? Well allow me to elaborate, sir!

Let's start with my pet peeve and the most commonly used. Gay. Fag. Homo. No Homo. Butch. I used to rock the hell out of this language in middle school. I mean it was the cool thing to do. You want to be cool don't you? How is it that the word gay, when I try to substitute it, always translates to "stupid". "That's so gay". "This is the gayest project ever". Really? can a project be attracted to a project of the same sex??? Is there sex in inanimate objects? We use these phrases because other people use them, and other people start using them because we use them. Its an unnecessary domino effect. I doubt that most people who use these phrases are even homophobic in the least, but no matter how casually you say it, or what you mean by it, you are using gay as a synonym for stupid. You are saying being gay is the equivalent to being stupid. You are supporting homophobia, whether you like it or not. I don't think that the LGBTQ community should have to suffer, just so we can be cool and throw around some slang. I mean did Matthew Shepard really deserve to die for being himself? There could be a lot less hate crimes against this community, if we all just supported them and didn't use these words. It's a start to a simple solution to a very dark and complicated problem.

Moving on to the word that makes me cringe. The N word. It's back and back in style. Thanks to the ever growing trend in rap music to use this word. Everyone can name a song with it in there. Fuck, everyone can name 20 songs with it in there. Who wouldn't want to sing along with Kanye, " I ain't saying she a gold digger..."? You know the rest. We all know that its okay for our black brothers and sisters to use it but not us. So why is it that all my non-black friends use it all the time? In the same way though, the joking around way, not the I'm gonna lynch your ass way. They wouldn't dare say it around my black friends though. I mean they're just being cool and trendy like Kanye. WRONG. It's not like I can call up all these artists on the phone, and be like I hope you know you just re-instated hundreds of years of racism. Really, is there a difference between the KKK-I'm gonna lynch you way and the trendy way? It's the same word, people and it is extremely painful to all communities of color, regardless of the context.

Ladies, ladies, ladies. You didn't think I'd forget about us did you? The most commonly used and most commonly overlooked hate language brings us down. Watch out cuz I'm about to go feminazi on this piece. Bitch. Slut. Whore. Ho. Hooker. Skank. Chickenhead.Floozy. I use these words all the time. Once again, jokingly. Can you think of the male equivalents to these words? No putting Man in front of it is not the same thing(Man Whore, Male Slut). It's more like Player or Pimp. But wait, those sound like good things? Can you think of any words that chastise men for being sexually promiscuous? No. There really aren't any. It's fine for them. I don't think I need to explain the ridiculousness of the double standard that our society holds so dear. What I don't understand is why women are constantly told to be stronger both emotionally and physically. "You throw like a girl". "Stop being such a woman." Apparently being born with a vagina and estrogen is an awful thing and ladies, we need to get rid of it immediately. Ask some one about Hilary Clinton, who you know does not like her, and they will tell you she's a bitch. Ask some one who doesn't like our boy George Dubya(shouldn't be too hard to find), and they will tell you he's a dumbass, jackass, etc. Why doesn't bitch come out? A bitch is just an aggressive woman. But than as soon as Hilary starts crying, she isn't strong or aggressive enough and definitely not fit to be president. Although I can almost guarantee that if Obama started to cry, he would be commended for his passion and commitment. Our language would tell us that basically a woman needs to sit still and be pretty. Unfortunately, all too many of us take this advice. This is why we spend more time and money shopping, dieting, buying make-up, shaving, and trying to fix every single "flaw" in our appearances. Oh, but we're just being girls right? This stuff makes us feel good about ourselves, it makes us confident. Why is it that feeling good about ourselves is almost completely dependent on our appearance? This is hate language in its works. Of course the media plays a huge part too, but the two go hand in hand. You wouldn't have hate language without the media.

Growing up in the suburbs among equally well off people, I never realized how I was SWIMMING in privilege. I have privilege flowing out of my ass. I never noticed that the word"ghetto", which I used to describe anything cheap or run-down, was racist and classicist. I mean I thought everyone that lived in the ghetto was there because they were lazy. They were supposed to pull themselves up by the boot straps, just like Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happiness. I thought it happened all the time. Wrong. Institutionalized racism got you again, sucka! When you think of the ghetto, do you picture white families? Didn't think so. So as long as you keep thinking that the American Dream is real, and you can easily make your way out of the ghetto, get an education, and have 2.5 kids, institutionalized racism will still go on.

I'm getting tired, so I'm going to assume you know why saying things like "retard" makes the difficult lives of the disabled even harder. This entry was not meant to be some sort of self-righteous rant about how you need to stop using this language right now. I said it myself, I use some of these words ALL the time, everyday. All I want to express is that our words have consequences. They mean something. You may not be racist, sexist or homophobic but believe me the people who invented these words and phrases were. Think before you speak, do not let the media tell you how the world should be.


*no i did not read through this to check for grammatical errors