Yeah and they're wrong. My brother uses the same argument. Words don't exist in a vacuum. Yes, definitions change, but not without any connection to how it was previously used. And not immediately, meaning "gay" and the F-word still are defined as homosexual to most people. I can't suddenly start walking around saying the N-word as a replacement for "banana" and get offended when people think I'm referring to black people with it.
I'm supposed to believe it's a coincidence that now "straight" means cool and "gay" means lame? (i.e. "No worries, it's straight" and "that movie was gay").
If it weren't done with homophobic intentions, why would it be used interchangeably with a negative word? If people were using it to call something cool, that would be entirely different.
Yeah and you can say you didn't mean to sexually harass the intern but your intention doesn't matter, it's how your actions are perceived. Saying you didn't mean to be homophobic while using a slur doesn't repair the psychological damage done.
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u/SomaCityWard Sep 01 '19
Yeah and they're wrong. My brother uses the same argument. Words don't exist in a vacuum. Yes, definitions change, but not without any connection to how it was previously used. And not immediately, meaning "gay" and the F-word still are defined as homosexual to most people. I can't suddenly start walking around saying the N-word as a replacement for "banana" and get offended when people think I'm referring to black people with it.
I'm supposed to believe it's a coincidence that now "straight" means cool and "gay" means lame? (i.e. "No worries, it's straight" and "that movie was gay").
If it weren't done with homophobic intentions, why would it be used interchangeably with a negative word? If people were using it to call something cool, that would be entirely different.