What do you think about the idea of "reclaiming" words such as fag, tranny, homo, ect. as words of pride? I guess kinda like the n word was reclaimed by some African Americans.
Can't say any of those words have been 'reclaimed' here: Homo is either scientific or a slightly negative but archaic term, tranny is archaic too and very rarely used, and fag means cigarette unless you're talking to someone who has been spending too much time on American sites. I think it's good when words are reclaimed successfully, but words really aren't the biggest problem for the LGBT+ community.
It can be kind of empowering, and I guess kind of... fun? I might add that I think it's important to remember, though, that just because one person is okay with a certain word, doesn't mean everyone in their group is going to be okay with it. Like... I would have to be in an exceptionally good mood to like/not take offence at being called "tranny".
Saw this interesting video about it: [YOUTUBE]mOzf0W57Mew[/YOUTUBE] I was kind of against it before watching it, just because you never know how others feel about it when you say those things, but I agree empowering is a good way to put it. In the video it kind of talked about how words are just words and humans control what they mean. If we turn them into something positive it takes away their power as insults. Just like if someone's bullying someone else and the victim acts like they don't care or treats the bully with kindness, after a while the bully will just get bored and stop. But like you said, it is still important to be sensitive to others since people can feel differently about it.
I don't see the problem with it, as long as they respect that others in their community may be uncomfortable with it.
If some people want to reclaim words within the community, that's fine. Words such as "queer" in academia have been reclaimed, and I've definitely used that word a lot, especially when it comes to queer theory. However, they should also be considerate of others within the community who do not want those words reclaimed. Regardless, straight cis people (not even people who ally with the LGBTQ community) should definitely never use words such as "fag" and "tranny" unless they want to be branded as hateful.
I don't think being straight or gay really changes the context of the word. I agree with everything you said, although I would go slightly further and say if straight people want to use it amongst consenting gay friends, then it's fine, and I feel the same for racial slurs. I just don't believe words should have power over context, ever
If words were reclaimed, it would no longer be fun to say them. Calling my bf a feminist wouldn't be so fun if he started to like it.
I try to be respectful of others, but a when you get used to using a word in your circle of friends or whatever, it can be easy to fall into the habit and end up offending people without meaning to. For instance, I feel like I probably use the word "dyke," more than I should and I've ended up wishing I could unsay it a few times with people who didn't know me well. I guess my stance is, reclaiming is fine as long as everyone is truly OK with it. If you insist on saying it when you know it makes someone uncomfortable, just because you want to be one of those militant, "reclaiming our words!" sorts, then you're probably being an a-hole.
