Reclaiming Epithets

A great way of taking the pain of a hated epithet out of it, is to reclaim it for the group it's used against.

F'rinstance, "queer." Queer used to be (and still is in some of the more neanderthally-inclined members of the human race) a word of derision, used to wound, and to separate someone from the "herd." Queer has been reclaimed by gay youth (and some not-so-youthful) as a word of honor, to wear as a badge.

"Queer!" a closed-minded fool will shout.

It used to hurt, it was meant to hurt.

Now, in the gay community, the word queer is used as an identity.

In essence the word has been taken away from the hater and redeemed, turned into a word to be used by the very community it used to denigrate, as something to be proud of.

There's another word I won't mention by name here, but has been reclaimed by some African Americans, for use within their own social groups, but not by outsiders. Fair enough, I say. That particular word has some very serious connotations and I'm not going to make any judgments about it.

I'd like to reclaim the word fag, by turning it into an acronym for a two groups of people currently reviled by the religious right:

Friends of Athiests and Gays.

Athiests and gay people each make up only 10% of the population. Together we would equal 20% (I have no way of knowing how much overlap there is in the two communities, so I won't calculate that). That's one fifth of the population of the US.

That's more people than all the elderly in our nation; more people than African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asians -- nearly as many people as those four groups combined. That is considerable voting power!

[Source: US Census Bureau, 2006 Facts]

You don't have to be gay or an atheist to join, obviously -- that's what the "friends" part of the acronym is for.

Next time you hear someone shout out, "Fag!" you can say, "Yes, and I vote!"

Maybe a few more episodes like this:

will allow people to think before they speak, and re-think their stereotypes.



But probably not. :bnghd:


[Oh, Mods, this isn't meant to be offensive, if it is and needs to be removed, my apologies in advance.]

I must state that the great institution of fagging still continues in great English public schools, where younger students become the virtual valets of the oldest students. The English aristocrats are proud of their fagging days and many English Prime Ministers have been former fags.

In fact while you are at it why not reclaim the word 'ass' which refers to an animal, and not the posterior portion of the anatomy. This would then remove from the unpleasant derivatives of the word which I hear occasionally hurled in my direction when I back up traffic with my unusually careful driving.

Originally posted by Heronumber0


In fact while you are at it why not reclaim the word 'ass' which refers to an animal, and not the posterior portion of the anatomy. This would then remove from the unpleasant derivatives of the word which I hear occasionally hurled in my direction when I back up traffic with my unusually careful driving.

Be my guest -- let's all reclaim an epithet today!

Why you are at it why can't we reclaim the word 'cock' which used to mean, in more gallant times, either an adult male chicken or a leader. For example one would read eagerly about a person being able to 'cock a snoot' at the world, or to 'cock an eyebrow' to an unusual question until this worthy lexeme was hijacked by vulgar individuals and given another, unexpected meaning.

Oh! I managed to cock that up. Obviously the word 'cock' also refers to a jaunty upward tilt.

Can we please return to using "slut" in its original context, meaning a woman who kept a dirty house?

Admirable post MM. Back to basics - I like it. There are great possibilities here; for example one can say with understandable pride: 'My dear old mom was the most wonderful woman who ever lived. The only problem was that she was a bit of a slut as far as the house work was concerned...' And you would be reverential in your praise for the dear woman. Let's reclaim sluts again...

Originally posted by Heronumber0
Admirable post MM.

Thanks very much!

Let's reclaim sluts again...

There is just something so wrong with that statement.

[edit used wrong smiley]

[edit on 22-6-2007 by MajorMalfunction]