Sexual slur
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| + | A '''sexual slur''' is a [[term of disparagement]] used to refer to members of a given sexual [[minority group|minority]], [[gender]], [[sex]], or [[sexual orientation]] in a [[derogatory]] or pejorative manner. The motivation for using a sexual slur is often [[sexism]] and/or bias against a [[sexual orientation]] or practice. | ||
| - | # A [[large]], [[strong]], [[courageous]] or [[aggressive]] [[woman]] | + | Many sexual slurs are used in a wide range of contexts outside of their primary meaning; for example, [[gay]] may be used as a [[term of disparagement]] to refer to any person or thing the speaker thinks is worthy of contempt, sometimes with absurd results (e.g. "Those sneakers are gay"). Used in this way, the slur conveys contempt by associating its target with an (implicitly despised) sexual minority. |
| - | # A [[noisy]], [[scolding]], or [[domineering]] woman | + | |
| - | <hr> | + | |
| - | '''Virago''' is a term that refers to a strong, brave, or warlike woman. The term comes from the same root as the word ''[[virility|virile]]'', the [[Latin language|Latin]] ''vir'' "a man", hence, a [[masculine]] woman. | + | |
| - | A "virile" woman was perceived as a departure from the normative [[gender role]]s of English society, where even being a [[common scold|scold]] was punishable by law with [[cucking stool|cucking]]. Thus ''virago'' joined [[pejorative]]s such as ''[[termagant]]'' and ''[[shrew]]'' to demean women who acted aggressively. However, unlike the other terms, ''virago'' originally had, and retained, a positive aspect; for example, the [[British Royal Navy]] christened at least four warships ''[[HMS Virago|Virago]]''. | + | As seen above with the term ''gay'', words which at one point had predominantly positive connotations and came from the minority groups themselves are often eventually used against them as [[term of disparagement|slur]]s. It is also not uncommon for members of minority groups to adopt an originally disparaging term and use it for themselves, possibly as an act of self-assertion. However, they may be extremely offended if it is used by members of the majority group (and some will find its use offensive regardless of who does it). The word ''[[Nigger (word)|nigger]]'' is an example. ''[[Queer]]'' is another. |
| - | ==Vulgate Bible== | + | Some of the slurs used against women are also used against men, but with the addition of the qualifier ''man''. So ''[[slut]]'' becomes ''man slut'', and ''whore'' becomes ''man whore''. |
| - | ''Virago'' is the [[Vulgate|Vulgate Bible]]'s word for "woman", and so was taken by [[Middle English]] speakers to be the name given by Adam to the first woman when she was created out of his rib. | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The Vulgate reads: | + | |
| - | <blockquote> | + | |
| - | ''Dixitque Adam hoc nunc os ex ossibus meis et caro de carne mea haec vocabitur '''virago''' quoniam de viro sumpta est.'' | + | |
| - | <br> | + | |
| - | "And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man." | + | |
| - | </blockquote> | + | |
| - | + | ||
| - | The Middle English poem ''[[Cursor Mundi]]'' retains the Latin name for the woman in its otherwise Middle English account of the creation: | + | |
| - | <blockquote> | + | |
| - | ''Quen sco was broght be-for adam, '''Virago''' he gaf her to nam; þar for hight sco '''virago''', ffor maked of the man was sco.'' (lines 631-34) | + | |
| - | <br> | + | |
| - | "When she was brought before Adam, Virago was the name he gave to her; Therefore she is called Virago, For she was made out of the man." | + | |
| - | </blockquote> | + | |
| + | [[University of New England, Australia|University of New England]] researcher David Plummer argues that anti-gay terms that often connote effeminate behavior are also used when young boys betray "peer group solidarity" or fail to, "measure up to '[[hegemony|hegemonic]]' boys' standards rather than necessarily being 'feminine'." Thus, he argues, "homophobia has its early roots in boyhood 'otherness'—specifically in being different from the collectively authorized expectations of male peers." [http://www.xyonline.net/downloads/questformanhood.pdf] ([[portable document format|PDF]] file) And thus the ambiguous use of the term ''[[Faggot (epithet)|faggot]]'', which is used not necessarily to literally mean ''homosexual'', but simply "''unmanly''", cowardly, effeminate, etc. | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | {{wiktionary|virago}} | + | *[[Vulgarism]] |
| - | * [[Amazons]] | + | *[[Term of disparagement|Slur]]s |
| - | * [[Sexual slur]] | + | *[[Sexual slang]] |
| - | * [[Tomboy]] | + | *[[Pejorative]] |
| - | * [[Woman warrior]] | + | *[[Term of disparagement]] |
| - | + | *[[Flyting]] | |
| - | ==Bibliography== | + | |
| - | *Ernst Breisach, ''[[Caterina Sforza]] ; A Renaissance virago'', Chicago [usw.]: University Press 1967 | + | |
| - | *Elizabeth D. Carney,"[[Olympias]] and the Image of the Virago" in: Phoenix, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 29-55 | + | |
| - | *Morris, Richard. ''[[Cursor Mundi]]: A Northunbrian Poem of the XIV Century.'' London: Oxford UP, 1874. Republished 1961. | + | |
| - | *Yenna Wu, ''The Chinese virago : a literary theme'', Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.] : Harvard Univ. Press, 1995 | + | |
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A sexual slur is a term of disparagement used to refer to members of a given sexual minority, gender, sex, or sexual orientation in a derogatory or pejorative manner. The motivation for using a sexual slur is often sexism and/or bias against a sexual orientation or practice.
Many sexual slurs are used in a wide range of contexts outside of their primary meaning; for example, gay may be used as a term of disparagement to refer to any person or thing the speaker thinks is worthy of contempt, sometimes with absurd results (e.g. "Those sneakers are gay"). Used in this way, the slur conveys contempt by associating its target with an (implicitly despised) sexual minority.
As seen above with the term gay, words which at one point had predominantly positive connotations and came from the minority groups themselves are often eventually used against them as slurs. It is also not uncommon for members of minority groups to adopt an originally disparaging term and use it for themselves, possibly as an act of self-assertion. However, they may be extremely offended if it is used by members of the majority group (and some will find its use offensive regardless of who does it). The word nigger is an example. Queer is another.
Some of the slurs used against women are also used against men, but with the addition of the qualifier man. So slut becomes man slut, and whore becomes man whore.
University of New England researcher David Plummer argues that anti-gay terms that often connote effeminate behavior are also used when young boys betray "peer group solidarity" or fail to, "measure up to 'hegemonic' boys' standards rather than necessarily being 'feminine'." Thus, he argues, "homophobia has its early roots in boyhood 'otherness'—specifically in being different from the collectively authorized expectations of male peers." [1] (PDF file) And thus the ambiguous use of the term faggot, which is used not necessarily to literally mean homosexual, but simply "unmanly", cowardly, effeminate, etc.
See also
