{"id":43,"date":"1998-04-22T14:10:47","date_gmt":"1998-04-22T14:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/1998\/04\/22\/the_minefield_o\/"},"modified":"2024-11-27T17:05:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T22:05:36","slug":"the_minefield_o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/1998\/04\/22\/the_minefield_o\/","title":{"rendered":"The Minefield of Aggressive Language (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Subject: Re: AN OPEN LETTER<\/strong>
\nDate: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 09:44:32 -0400
\nFrom: Daniel Rhatigan <Sparky@inch.com>
\nNewsgroups: alt.zines<\/p>\n

Shantia wrote:<\/p>\n

> and faggy is not an insult.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Uh-oh, we\u2019re digging deeper into that thorny \u201cuse of language\u201d issue
\nagain.<\/p>\n

I find it pretty hard not to find \u201cfaggy\u201d an insult here. (\u201c…quoting faggy bands like the Flaming Lips.\u201d) The defamatory sense of the word is pretty clear. And the defamatory point of the word is to malign someone or something by implying it has the quality of what is perceived as standard gay characteristics.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not an insult? If the point is to say that the Flaming Lips are admitted homosexuals and no one cares about it anyway, it\u2019s still a callous way to put it, considering that all the taunting that\u2019s made use \u201cfag\u201d and its derivatives over the years. If the point really is to say that the Flaming Lips aren\u2019t that good, then the insult to us fags seems pretty clear. The intent behind the word always means something. And that\u2019s why people need to be responsible for their use of language.<\/p>\n

And I don\u2019t mean \u201cresponsible\u201d to be steering clear of offensive or impolite words. \u201cResponsible\u201d means use your language carefully, and say what you really mean. Or people might think you mean what you are only saying. Swear like a sailor! Push people\u2019s buttons! But make sure you know what you\u2019re doing, and do it for a reason.<\/p>\n

There are a couple of zines out there like \u201cTeen Fag\u201d and \u201cSingle Faggot\u201d that are using the words with great care. They\u2019re trying to push some buttons, and throw the word back at the public that might otherwise use it as an insult. that\u2019s pushing some artistic boundaries. Just tossing the word \u201cfag\u201d around liberally by somebody who\u2019s not thinking about the implications isn\u2019t breaking any new ground, it\u2019s just crossing over the same tired ground.<\/p>\n

Same deal with this ongoing debate about rascism. Careless use of the word \u201cnigger\u201d isn\u2019t automatically pushing artistic boundaries just because someone has the right to use it. Sure someone has the right use it, but also the responsibility to face criticism for it. I don\u2019t think the post that started all this hoopla used it any way that was going to make people question their own position on rascism. Not do I think it was meant to spark a healthy debate on the subject. It was just thoughtless. And hence insulting to anyone who ever got called a nigger and had a reason to get pissed off about it.<\/p>\n

Just like \u201cfaggy\u201d is an insult to anyone who ever got called a fag and knew that it wasn\u2019t meant as a compliment.<\/p>\n

So even if I am a man-lovin\u2019, limp-wristed, lisping, cocksucking, buttfucking, gerbil-chasing, popper-snorting, disco-dancing, pink-wearing nancyboy, but \u2014 and I quote Joe Jackson \u2014 \u201cdon\u2019t call me a faggot, not unless you are a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Subject: Re: AN OPEN LETTER Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 09:44:32 -0400 From: Daniel Rhatigan <Sparky@inch.com> Newsgroups: alt.zines Shantia wrote: > and faggy is not an insult. Uh-oh, we\u2019re digging deeper into that thorny \u201cuse of language\u201d issue again. I find it pretty hard not to find \u201cfaggy\u201d an insult here. (\u201c…quoting faggy bands like … Continue reading “The Minefield of Aggressive Language (Part 1)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ultracultural","category-ultragay","category-ultrahistorical"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71352,"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43\/revisions\/71352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ultrasparky.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}