I read somewhere that Eskimos have some gawdawful amount of words to describe snow. Well step aside you frozen folks, the gay community (or whatever we're supposed to call them now) is about ready to kick your ass as evidenced by this article from (Where else would you expect to see it?) the San Francisco Chronicle.
First, there was the term "homosexual," then "gay" and "lesbian," then the once taboo "dyke" and "queer."Now, all bets are off.
So I guess "faggot" isn't an option either.
With the universe of gender and sexual identities expanding, a gay youth culture emerging, acceptance of gays rising and label loyalty falling, the gay lexicon has exploded with scores of new words and blended phrases that delineate every conceivable stop on the identity spectrum -- at least for this week.
Oh shit! Am I gonna have to subscribe to some site on the internet so I can keep track of all this shit?
Someone who is "genderqueer," for example, views the gender options as more than just male and female or doesn't fit into the binary male-female system. A "trannydyke" is a transgender person (whose gender is different than the one assigned at birth) attracted to people with a more feminine gender, while a "pansexual" is attracted to people of multiple genders. A "boi" describes a boyish gay guy or a biological female with a male presentation; and "heteroflexible" refers to a straight person with a queer mind-set.
I am so fucking confused! Maybe Lady Jessica can explain this to me. She described herself as "bisexual . . . admittedly a bit too bisexual straight for most thinking women's tastes". There has to be a term in the lexicon that describes her. She also said that she is a good kisser. I would like a demonstration please at the next Blogger Meetup. But let us continue.
The list of terms -- which have hotly contested definitions -- goes on: "FTM" for female to male, "MTF" for male to female, "boydyke," "trannyboy, " "trannyfag," "multigendered," "polygendered," "queerboi," "transboi," "transguy," "transman," "half-dyke," "bi-dyke," "stud," "stem," "trisexual," "omnisexual," and "multisexual."
Holy shit! Who keeps track of this stuff?
"The language thing is tricky," said Thom Lynch, the director of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center. "I feel sorry for straight people."
Why? For striaght guys like me it's pretty straightforward. Whatta babe! Looka them tits! Great legs! Nice ass! We don't worry about multigendered or polygendered. I'm a guy. She's a girl (I hope!). Let's fuck! You're the ones who have to figger out what the other person is and give him/her/it/whatever a name before gettin' it on.
Tricky, maybe, but also healthy and empowering, said Carolyn Laub, the director of the Gay-Straight Alliance Network, which links gay and lesbian student clubs in the state.
Empowering?
"We in society and in our generation are developing new understandings of sexual orientation and gender identities and what that means to us," she said. "We don't really have enough language to describe that; therefore, we have to create new words."
That's all we need is a bunch of new fucking words. English has the largest vocabulary of any language on this planet and we're gonna add more bullshit words. Why do I call myself a cripple? Because it is a word that describes my condition. I do not think it is demeaning. I am not handicapable or differently abled. I am a fucking cripple. Half of my fucking body does not work. There is a perfectly good word to describe my condition. Why invent other bullshit words? Aaaarrrrgggghhhhh!
For those back in the linguistic dark ages still wondering what's wrong with "homosexual," the evolution of queer identity language has progressed something like this: "Homosexual" sounded pathological and clinical, so activists went about creating their own words, starting with "gay" and "lesbian." That was well and good, but terms like "dyke" and "queer" had an appealing spikiness and served double-duty by stripping the sting from words that had heretofore been considered unspeakably nasty.
GMAFB! This reminds me of a comedy routine done by an impressionist in the 60's named David Pryor. He did an impression of Lyndon Johnson saying, "It took me 30 years to learn how to pronounce negro and then they go and change it to black".
"If you're not a man or woman,
Wait a fucking minute here! Did I just read that? If you're not a man or a woman, what the fuck are you?
words like 'gay' or 'lesbian' don't fit you anymore," said Sam Davis, founder of United Genders of The Universe,
United Genders of the Universe? Beam me up Scotty!
a support group and speakers bureau. "The words from just a few years ago aren't adequate to talk about who we are, where we're coming from and who we like."
I'm finally speechless! There is nothing I can say. So I'll leave you with some definitions. Better study these. We may be tested. In the age of political correctness it is very easy to offend.
Definitions of many words in the gay lexicon are hotly contested. Here is a sample:Genderqueer: Someone who views the gender options as more than just male and female or who doesn't fit into the binary male-female system.
Transgender: An umbrella term for transgression of the binary gender system. May include surgical, hormonal or nonhormonal changes that result in a gender identity different from the one assigned at birth.
Pansexual: Someone attracted to people of multiple genders.
Trannydyke: A transgender person attracted to people with a more feminine gender.
Trannyfag: A transgender person attracted to people with a more masculine gender.
Boi: A boyish gay guy or a biological female with a boyish presentation.
Heteroflexible: A straight person with a queer mind-set.
I can't make this shit up!
Oh! And one more thing. Here is a beautiful line that I stole from this guy
Oscar Wilde’s "love that dare not speak its name" has turned into a lifestyle that won’t shut up.
I'm not being judgemental, but don't get pissed off if I don't know what to call you. Gay works for me. If it doesn't work for you it's because I didn't get the latest memo.
Sorry.