baby photos sent to uncle "is a bit gay"

Gloomendoom

Nottoobadyet wrote: »

Of course I dont - its the Ops sister that made a comment that can only be equated with gay = fancies my small child enough to want photos or gay = unmanly enough to want photos.

"Can only be"?

Reading through the thread, it is obvious that the sister's comment can be interpreted in at least two, possibly three, ways.

Hence the confusion.

andygb

Person_one wrote: »

I can't believe people still think that using 'gay' as an insult or to mean pathetic/geeky/uncool is acceptable.

You're kidding yourselves if you think its nothing to do with homosexuality.

OP, there's nothing at all wrong with taking an interest in your nephew. Yes, there is the stereotype that men aren't interested in babies and that its a feminine quality (hence 'gay' I expect) but that's just a stereotype. I bet your nephew will be glad you care as he gets older!

One of our "yobbish" 18 year old nephews used to regularly call his sister's 30 year old husband "gayboy", simply because the guy had no interest in football.
The phrase "gay" certainly does have a connection with homosexuality, and anyone who tries to deny it is being disingenuous.

The meaning can also refer to weakness or unmanliness

The people who try to laugh off homophobia will also do the same to racism and sexism.

Miss_Ratty

God forbid your nephew should grow up to be gay with a mother who uses homophobic language. You may not have taken offence, but it certainly is offensive. Godfrey Bloom doesn't think that bongo bongo land or !!!!!! are offensive terms because "they used to mean something else" but that is simply avoiding the fact that things change and what may not have been offensive before might be now. If she said that in a place of work she could have been sacked.

You may not have taken offence, but you should inform her that it is actually very offensive and that she should think before she speaks on occasion.

Gloomendoom

My dad gets very upset when he hears grumpy elderly women being referred to as "old bags". He finds it very offensive as, in the parlance of his youth, old bag was a derogatory term for a prostitute.

Meanings change. Gay is just another word in the transitional stage. Again.

duchy

"Yoof slang" I used to have students tell me things like "I hate Maths Miss it's gay" to which I'd respond with "Really Beckham and how exactly is Maths homosexual? "

I'd usually get a sheepish grin and a "Sorry Miss" and it sometimes generated a bit of general discussion about what a silly expression it is from the kids

Person_one

Gloomendoom wrote: »

My dad gets very upset when he hears grumpy elderly women being referred to as "old bags". He finds it very offensive as, in the parlance of his youth, old bag was a derogatory term for a prostitute.

Meanings change. Gay is just another word in the transitional stage. Again.

Gay still means homosexual, the fact that some people think its ok to use homosexual as an insult/derogatory term just means we haven't come nearly as far as we might think we have.

Its like the way 'girl' is used an insult, "don't be such a girl" "you throw like a girl" etc etc.

Gloomendoom

Person_one wrote: »

Gay still means homosexual, the fact that some people think its ok to use homosexual as an insult/derogatory term just means we haven't come nearly as far as we might think we have.

Its like the way 'girl' is used an insult, "don't be such a girl" "you throw like a girl" etc etc.

Old bag still means prostitute... to some people.

Perhaps too, gay used as a term to describe homosexuals will be a distant memory.

Gloomendoom

duchy wrote: »

"Yoof slang" I used to have students tell me things like "I hate Maths Miss it's gay" to which I'd respond with "Really Beckham and how exactly is Maths homosexual? "

I would have responded "Really Beckham, if you think maths is so jolly, why do you hate it?"

Bazey

Maybe she's implying your nephew is gay? Is he dressed as the Cop from the Village people in any of these pics?

MacMickster

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I would have responded "Really Beckham, if you think maths is so jolly, why do you hate it?"

Yes. Strange how one generation of people can take a word and begin to use it with a very different meaning to that which the previous generation had, but then object when another generation subsequently do exactly the same thing with the same word.