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OK, I can see that. Phelix Send a noteboard - 08/09/2010 10:09:16 PM
Faggot would more often apply to a weak, wimpy man. Similar to to pansy. That probably comes from the British private school set up, where young students would act as "fags" to older students, doing everything for them from polishing shoes to running errands in the rain. Don't forget that Australia and NZ were settled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The English we speak is very much of those times. And the vast majority of our cultural education has been British. The American influence is from much, much later.


The weak and wimpy is part of the negative connotation, the association that just because a man is queer he is likely weak and effeminate, he is unmanly. It's part and parcel with the insult.

Also, faggot is used so frequently as an insult that the meanings got lost along the way. Like the word "cunt" (yeah, even typing that was difficult :P).


Words do tend to lose their meaning to those who aren't targeted by them. As a queer man my ears perk up every time I hear someone call someone else a faggot, a queer, a fairy. In person, I have the opportunity to listen to the context and decide how to react to that particular situation. Cunt definitely hasn't lost its meaning over here. :P

So I think you are being over the top with the whole soul searching thing. She made a mistake, she's apologised, move on.


I'm not emotionally involved in her or this situation, so there's no need to move on for me. I do think she needs to look inside to decide where that came from. If it came from a place that denigrates another person for being different, that's something she should look into changing.

Looking at her apology, she doesn't explain where she came from with it. All she does is say that it was out of character and that she isn't homophobic. If it's not a slur against queer folk, and is only a meaningless insult, then she should say that was how she meant it. The way she's defending herself implies, to me, that she does need to look inside.
I was Phelix on wotmania, I will always be Phelix in the "real" world, and now I am Phelix on RAFO.

You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.- Churchill

*MySmiley*
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Interesting way to bring people together - 08/09/2010 04:36:19 PM 1559 Views
That is priceless. Go Stephanie Rice! *NM* - 08/09/2010 04:38:27 PM 363 Views
omigod....what a ridiculous overreaction - 08/09/2010 04:55:55 PM 915 Views
omigod....what a ridiculous overreaction - 08/09/2010 04:55:55 PM 610 Views
1. That girl is an idiot who needs to do some soul searching... - 08/09/2010 07:07:47 PM 883 Views
? not that her comment was excusable... - 08/09/2010 07:45:59 PM 955 Views
It's not a cardinal sin against humanity... - 08/09/2010 07:55:55 PM 1083 Views
or it just means... - 08/09/2010 08:18:57 PM 999 Views
Societal problems don't go away from the group level. - 08/09/2010 08:25:21 PM 839 Views
your soul is your being - 08/09/2010 08:43:18 PM 879 Views
Just because you search does not mean you re-evaluate. - 08/09/2010 08:45:31 PM 761 Views
You have an odd definition of homophobe (or at least that's what your last paragraph implies). - 08/09/2010 10:04:52 PM 837 Views
I was trying to use her words... - 08/09/2010 10:17:32 PM 902 Views
Ah, okay. Her apology does seem rather clumsy, agreed there. - 08/09/2010 11:05:34 PM 806 Views
Glad to clear up that confusion. - 08/09/2010 11:11:35 PM 985 Views
I don't think you should read too much in the exact wording of her apology. - 08/09/2010 11:24:21 PM 846 Views
I'm horrible for tearing into the meaning of words. - 08/09/2010 11:36:34 PM 822 Views
Entirely agree *NM* - 08/09/2010 10:46:12 PM 451 Views
You should watch that Southpark episode where they change the meaning of the word faggot. - 08/09/2010 09:24:16 PM 735 Views
I've seen it, and it was funny. - 08/09/2010 09:40:43 PM 920 Views
Suspect you need to consider the way the word is used in other countries. - 08/09/2010 09:46:05 PM 803 Views
I admit, I don't know many (any) kiwis personally (in person that is)... - 08/09/2010 09:52:45 PM 792 Views
The insult word for homosexuals Downunder tends to be Fruit or Queer. - 08/09/2010 09:58:04 PM 985 Views
OK, I can see that. - 08/09/2010 10:09:16 PM 856 Views
Don't forget Poofta!! - 08/09/2010 10:57:00 PM 651 Views
Heh, I had forgotten that. - 08/09/2010 10:58:53 PM 859 Views
She said she needs to learn to think before she tweets lol - 08/09/2010 08:14:38 PM 1052 Views
Yes, but that's just a surface change. - 08/09/2010 08:20:59 PM 1014 Views
Re: Yes, but that's just a surface change. - 08/09/2010 08:39:52 PM 1095 Views
Re: Yes, but that's just a surface change. - 08/09/2010 08:43:55 PM 864 Views
mm, i doubt that would make people shut up - 08/09/2010 08:44:29 PM 731 Views
A concerted effort would do it... - 08/09/2010 08:47:50 PM 810 Views
heh, it's pretty cool that everyone came together like that - 08/09/2010 10:52:50 PM 627 Views
"Just because a person is gay, mayor, doesn't mean he is a fag" - 09/09/2010 05:27:50 AM 720 Views
It was a very good game though, wasn't it? *NM* - 09/09/2010 12:56:33 PM 474 Views

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