Language Matters: The Underlying Misogyny of Gay Slurs

by Kelly Maxwell

Words matter. They carry some real weight. Simon Moritz, an out and proud gay man, recently tore down an experience where he was called a common gay slur. It made him realize that a real part of homophobia is linked to misogyny. He exposes the celebration of masculinity, in gay culture, as another example of  “demonizing femininity.”

He discusses how being labeled made him question the root of that label. He discovered a real link between homophobia and the treatment of women in our society. He posits,

“Typically we say that “fag,” “sissy,” “nancy,” “nelly” and “fairy” are homophobic words, and although they certainly are used to perpetuate homophobia, they are not homophobic in and of themselves; the usage of any of these words as slurs usually targets people with male-sexed bodies who do not act sufficiently masculine. They prize masculinity by demonizing femininity.”

I appreciate his sincere attempt at getting to the root of the problem and putting it out there. This is an issue that many of us, as feminists and as members of the LGBTQ/Ally community, have dealt with for years. How can we overcome homophobia when some of the roots of that problem exist in misogyny?

“So let’s make life easier on all queer people and stop mimicking the worst parts of heterosexism. Who knows? We could even begin to support each other. How revolutionary.”

I would encourage our readers to read the post and start a discussion.

Source: The Huffington Post

Photo via The Huffington Post

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