Not Sticks and Stones but the names that hurt you

On Friday June 26, 2009 the Toronto Star with feature writer, Lynda Hurst, published an article titled: What to call someone who hates gays? Along with the subtitle Perez Hilton’s dustup highlights homophobe’s waning currency.

 

 According to the article, some B-list celebrity named Perez Hilton got his ass kicked for calling will.i.am, from the group Black eyed peas, a “faggot”. Instead of the expected sympathy, Hilton found some derision turned his way though, so he quickly played another card: “I was in an out-of-the-ordinary situation and used a word that I would not utter under normal circumstances, clearly, I am not homophobic.”

 

Faggot is supposed to be an insult to homosexual men, or any male not “exhibiting standard masculine behviour,” according to the author of the piece. Apparently the word has been around for quite awhile, in fact the term fag is still used to today by the lower  class in Britain for cigarette and was said to first originate in that country as a description for a bundle of twigs.  So perhaps, a bundle of twigs and weak men is a form of descriptive symmetry.

 

[Fag-faggot-bitch-ho-niggers-niggahs
-spic-chink-packi-wet back]

 

The old nursery rhyme, “sticks and stones will break my bones, but name will never hurt me!”, only makes sense if you’re talking about broken bones. Emotional scarring cuts deeper and sometimes never heals and can create an entirely new behaviour in people affected by certain names or “tags”.  Some tags are present before some of us were born and may stay till after we are gone. Some tags have no earthly meaning but for the power we, victim and victimizers give it. Some tags are entrenched in legislation and can carry a heavier emotional as well as physical pain.

 

Within the African community unenlightened individuals chose to recite nigger and niggahs till the cow come down from its moon jump, in hopes of desensitizing and “reclaiming” the term as their own. Edumacated and illiterate morons, say the term originate from the Niger region of West Africa.  The Niger is said to be the major river that runs through that region. Now  no one has ever came forth and shown if this was the actual name of the river or whether it was an opiate induced fantasy of a colonialist invader, who I know has often named rivers where elephants roamed and called cities desert, in devilish attempts to justify their “savage Africa” claim.

 

While many of the unenlightened amongst us claim that niggahs is an homage to your homies and calling some one nigger is liable to get you shot or a good beat down by them niggahs, lynched by rednecks or legally lynched by the po-lice; few tags has ever carried the weight and fear as having  being called homophobic.

The term “homophobic,” or “homophobia” is used to describe those who find the homosexual culture and lifestyle abhorrent, was coined by New York clinical psychologist George Weinberg in the 1970’s, who defined it as “the irrational fear, hatred and intolerance” of homosexuals. Weinberg believed homophobia was a medical disorder. 

 

Now we all know how enlightened psychologists and psychiatrist are….don’t we? Trained to regard homosexuality as pathology, Weinberg then argued that the “sickness” lay elsewhere. Now in the 70’s the modern homosexual rights movement was small, so this labeling was a boost to their prestige and an enormously effective weapon in its fight against discrimination. According to the Toronto star article and in the ways of Isfet, the term thus had re-directed “the `problem’ of homosexuality not in homosexuals, but in heterosexuals who were intolerant of it,” says Gregory Herek, a University of California (Davis) psychologist and leading gay-rights researcher.

 

The Star article went on to say that “many activists took the concept a step further, promoting the idea that homophobic attitudes and behaviour were linked to a person’s fear and loathing of his own repressed homosexual feelings. There were unsuccessful attempts to get homophobia placed into the official compendium of psychiatric conditions as an “intolerant personality disorder.”

 

Calling someone homophobic has now given the accuser more power than calling some one a racist. The term “Homophobia” has come to include violence against homosexuals, the private thoughts of individuals and the policies and actions of governments, businesses and organized religion.

 

 

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Isaiah Washington

 

On the set of the hit tel-lie-vison series, Grey’s Anatomy, talented and respected actor, Isaiah Washington, became a pariah in holly-weird, after allegedly calling actor Patrick Dempsey a faggot. The two men had argued about the presence or lack of, of an actress and whether or not the scene needed to be held up due to her tardiness.  Now the curious thing was, according to those on the set, including costar Katherine Heigl and the shows creator Shonda Rhimes, it was at best a five minute blow up and subsequent back to normal routine. That is until their costar T.R. Knight, who much later revealed that he was homosexual, claimed that the word was directed at him… even though he wasn’t even there at the scene of the argument. After the necessary bullshit, “we are all family; nothing will come of it”, spewed by the deceitful cast and creators.  Even after Washington threw himself on his proverbial sword, groveling and ass kissing,  even putting out the time worn line:

“I sincerely regret my actions and the unfortunate use of words during the recent incident on-set,”

 

 ”Both are beneath my own personal standards. … I have nothing but respect for my coworkers … and have apologized personally to everyone involved.”

“said a lot of things I’m not really proud of.” And the classic; “I am not homophobic – in no way, shape or form,”
Washington later attempted to explain that Knight claiming the slur was directed at him, was a lie and suggested Knight did that to advance his career and get more money. “He has been very disappointed in playing the character he has been playing. He told me that,” said Washington. One could only speculate that either anger at the fall out, anger at Knight for lying or too much truth serum in a bottle of Johnny Walker, caused Washington to repeat that tag backstage at the Golden Globe Awards, earnin even more vitrol and denouncment from the fakers in the media and in Sodom and Gommorah.

 

Afrer Washington was ultimately directed to attend counseling, he was fired from the hit ABC series by the unforgiven institution.

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Homophobia

 

This weekend is the annual Gay Pride parade, where homosexual men, women and those unsure of where they stand, get to celebrate their choices in marches, music, displays, merchandizing and street theater. The get to show the City of Toronto, if not the world, how much they embrace being out, loud and proud. I cannot begin to explain how the sight of naked old men, thier stunted willies flopping around prune looking balls, on my memory. There were also sickly pale and bare breasted overly fat women followed by half naked exhibitionists in all manner of dress and undress, from Marie Antoinette, to Cher and even a few Roman gladiators and an S&M clad dog and pony show.

 

At the agency I work at, several homosexual and non-homosexual youth asked if I was going to wear one of the rainbow flags, purchased for the occasion and was liberally displayed around the building that apparently was pissing off quite a few heterosexual males. I explained to one homosexual male that if I were to wave a flag it would be the red, black and green. When he asked and was told what it meant, no further question was necessary.  A heterosexual male told me that he wasn’t homophobic but too many of the other guys where. I explained that those guys must be given room to voice their displeasure without being attacked, just so long they don’t physically confront anyone. Being that he was French and had some difficulty with the english language, I asked him if he knew the meaning of that tag. Of course he gave the “industry” answer.

 

I explained that Latin is the basis of French, just as it was for English. Therefore knowing both the languages he spoke and all their nuances is vital to over standing many things.

 

In the simplest explanation I could I broke it down for him thusly:

 Homo = man
Phobia = Fear

 Using a misdiagnosed and wholly self created misapplied tag as a pejorative to socially ostracize people is never the best thing to do. Especially as it has now morphed into a every day lingo and a much feared mantle to carry for anyone, who innocently or not so innocently express personal disapproval of an act or practice such as homosexuality.  Today these brilliant minds with their corporate grants and many letters behind their names are working on new tags to better explain the type of disapproval shown towards homosexuality.

 Tags such as:

1. “Sexual prejudice” because it’s devoid of presumptions about motivation and also should refer to all negative attitudes about sexual orientation, including “gay men’s hostility toward lesbians, lesbians’ negative attitudes toward gay men, and both groups’ unfavourable reactions to bisexual women and men.”
2. “Homonegative” to reflect disapproval – not fear and hatred – of homosexuality and as a more accurate reflection of society as a whole.
    And.
3. “Heterosexism,” the cultural presumption that everyone is heterosexual, that it’s the normal state. 

Some of the vilest names thrown at African people are that age old fall back, “nigger” that in one breath, belittles, dismiss and if possible strives to dehumanize us.

 Some of the worst offenders are of course the mental and emotional stunted cousins of the Africans. I speak of the knee-grow.

Some of the vilest names thrown at homosexuals are “faggot”.

 These are delivered by fellow homosexuals with in earshot.  I am sure that wasn’t the first time Perez Hilton threw that tag at some one, it’s just this time he was cold busted and got his lip busted for his troubles.

 Still this is a battle that has not seen the end yet. Let’s see what the future brings indeed.