Use of the word straight. Just as offensive?

[Henjin]

All this political correctness is killing me, if society can change the meaning of gay to mean homosexual in a slang context, it can change it to mean something else completely.

The definitions of slang terms change rapidly, for example, I have to think carefully about using the word 'special', lest I offend anyone of limited mental capacity.

I think people should look at context with these terms, as they do with any other situation.

What ever happened to 'sticks and stones' anyway? I like insults, they're an insight to one's creativity, I laugh off people who stop at "You're gay!", while I take notice of people who are considerate and intelligent enough to give me an original insult

 

[kdragon1010]

I don't care if I happen to offend someone, so I use gay to describe something I find unappealing and strait just as often in the opposite connotation.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

This is the kind of PC bullshit that will be punishable by death under my regime. Death by being immersed in low-quality phosphorous and thrown into a swimming pool.

Let me explain this. For all, gay refers to homosexual. Now, for many, male homosexuality would be a bad thing, in particular for straight men, as having another man's penis in one's anus is as unappealing as death by a particularly inaccurate firing squad. With nailguns.

Therefore, gay is bad. While a person's lifestyle choice is just that, a choice, the PC brigade is going to have to get over the fact that for most people, homosexuality is bad. Which it is- it is a fundamentally unnatural act, but we tolerate it because:

1. It would be expensive and pointless to stop it#
2. It's minor and harms no-one.
3. Freedom.
4. In the case of women, it's very often a beautiful thing.
5. In the case of men, it reduces the competition.


As Mr Terry Prattchet, one does not go about thinking "This is how people are, how do we change them?", but rather one must take the approach of "This is how people are, how do we deal with that?", a far more sensible suggestion. Persecuting individuals for such minor acts of bigotry- harmless bigotry, is as irrational as persecuting homosexuals for harmless, if unnatural sex.

And yes, I am bigoted, and yet I somehow manage to get along with homosexuals, even as friends. (Gasp!) Why?

Because it is, in fact, not bigotry. It's cultural, it's mental, it's simply a turn of phrase and a twist of the tongue, and it's as abjectly harmless as the nitrogen in the air. So....get the fuck over it.


Yours sincerely,

Lord Fondant.

 

[Evilbunny]

I completely agree but if such a trend became so prevalent that it was culturally accepted, then there would be little you could practically do to reverse it. You'd have to get thicker skin. For example, most people consider atheist views and lifestyles to be inherently close-minded and I used to take that very personally and still do see it as ignorant and uninformed. But there's nothing to do about it and I know every group has some kind of anti-whatever feelings pitted against them by the community. Just have to suck it up. Just have to grow a pair.

Ah, so what you're saying (unless I'm mistaken) is that it is offensive, but society is offensive to everyone, so there's no reason to get mad when it's offensive towards you. I agree with that wholeheartedly, but I still think that it would be better to try and make the world a nicer place for everyone. You don't HAVE to adjust your language to avoid hurting anyone's feelings, but it would be nice if you did. That's all I was really wondering about here, whether the use of that word might hurt somebody's feelings. Because if it does, I'll try not to use it.

 

[t3rminal]

Man this thread is gay.

 

[willgreg123]

Hahaha! I love this, we should totally start going "Dude, that's so strait man!" "Aw, man! Straaait!" "You strait ass mother!"

 

[MadOmen]

oh boy more propaganda from the gay agenda

bring back lynching

 

[AntiAntagonist]

In my every day speech I avoid using the word "gay" to describe something bad or weird because I find it immature and a rather offensive towards homosexuals, but the other day I had a realization. I still use the word straight. I don't mean to describe something without curves or turns of course, but rather to describe something that is fine, or ok. For example, if somebody were to offer me a glass of water but I wasn't thirsty, I might say "nah, I'm straight, thanks." Is this just as offensive? By using the word straight to describe something that is ok, or does not need and adjustment am I implying that gay people are not ok and need to be changed? What do the fine minds at the escapist think of this? Is using the word straight in that context offensive to gay people, or am I just thinking about this too much?

"Straight" is used in different contexts depending on dialect.

Example: "Straight" also means "clear".

 

[Drake the Dragonheart]

You are addressing the main reason I hate censoring, we never know when to stop. Like you I have changed my speaking habits to seem less offensive to the occasional observer. With time I've come to the conclusion that we should stop worrying. I myself support the gay in there fight for equal rights, I occasionally even stand protests with my gay friends. I support women equality and had my pay lowered for 3 months to make a point to our bosses about unfair salary within the company (which worked, yay for us) yet I still like to use gay for something stupid and I like to call my friends girls if they are bailing out on stuff. If people are going to judge me for the way I speak then I want nothing to do with them, for if they took a closer look they'd realize that I support there cause, I just can't be bothered with all this bullshit. So I've stopped worrying, I'm not sexist, racist and I don't dislike any minority, I have nothing to fear, so I've stopped worrying.

yeah, what this guy said. seriously don't let it get to you. Some people are just too PC these days.

 

[Mr0llivand3r]

how is usung the term "straight" offensive? i don't see how someone could be mad to be called straight

 

[Mr0llivand3r]

super gay... Liberace gay...

 

[Evilbunny]

how is usung the term "straight" offensive? i don't see how someone could be mad to be called straight

Did you read the OP? I thought I clearly presented my point of view there.

 

[Fanboy]

Well, "gay" originally meant "happy" then somehow it also became "homosexual" and now it is being used as "lame." Take that for what it's worth.

As for the use of "straight" and whether it is offensive; I don't know, but I think you would have to be really sensitive to be offended. Also, I can't say I've ever heard somebody use it in the way you are describing.

 

[xitel]

I don't really mind hearing people use "straight" as a descriptor for things that are okay, not nearly as much as I mind hearing people use "gay" as something bad in general. Straight has been around as something good much longer than gay has used as something bad, so I realize it isn't used in the same context. For example, people used to say "straight as an arrow" because an arrow that was bent would need to be fixed.

 

[DayDark]

I honestly don't use the word at all except maybe if referring to an actual homosexual. I just can't seem to use it for something bad, because it just sounds weird to me, the sentence "oh that game was so gay" has the same meaning as saying "oh that game was so furniture", it doesn't make sense to me. I can see why it would be offensive though, I mean using the word gay to describe something which you find lacking or broken, is insulting to gays, just as it would be insulting if you use the word "black" in the same context.

 

[SeaCalMaster]

Let's get a few things straight:

1. Being gay is NOT a choice.
2. There is nothing unnatural about being gay (homosexuality does exist in nature, after all).
3. Being gay is not just about gay sex.

I hate the annoying trend toward political correctness as much as the next guy, but allowing the word gay to be used as an insult is extremely inconsistent. If people started using insults based on racial or ethnic slurs, everyone would be up in arms about it. Why is it not acceptable to offend racial or ethnic minorities but perfectly fine to go after gays? For those of you who say that you support gay rights, one of the biggest reasons that gays don't currently have equal rights is because of the cultural paradigm that says that we can offend gays as much as we want, even though that would be appalling bigotry when applied to a race or ethnicity.