Rockslide uses it as an insult and claims that he just means it as calling someone "shitty" like a general insult. Is there really no better adjective you can find in your brain to use -- one that is not only more politically correct but also more accurate for the point you're trying to make? Well I doubt he actually had a thorough understanding of the word since he think he could just use it to mean "shitty person"
I agree the meaning and implication of words can have less of an impact or loses the harshness of its' original meaning over time. I think you should use whatever words you want. When some people use it, I can see it's funny, and I don't care. Now I understand that he wasn't using it what the word for its' original meaning and yes some people will say it's just a word and it doesn't have power over you unless you let it.
Let me just start with the point about "it's not gonna mean anything unless you give it the power to." That would be correct if it's a situation like when someone called another "Fat." The term "fat" itself is not in any form supposed to be degrading or an insult, so if I'm actually big in size or over weight, I could come to peace with it by thinking "well, I am fat, but it doesn't make me less of a person or less beautiful." I can take it as a word of description and not insult.
Rockslide justifying his use of these words by saying "I didn't mean it offensively" (well he actually did mean to be offensive because he calls me that to insult me along with other things like trash or ugly), and that doesn't make it okay. Not only does it show ignorance, but it also shows a concerning lack of intellect. Yes, context is important.
Now I'll explain why the term "faggot", when it's used as an insult to someone, becomes problematic. Are you interested in what it ACTUALLY mean to gay men? Well, the word 'faggot' really means a bundle of sticks used for kindling in a fire. Now, in the middle ages, when they used to burn people they thought were witches? They used to burn homosexuals, too. And, they used to burn the witches at a stake, but they thought the homosexuals were too low and disgusting to be given a stake to be burnt on, so they used to just throw them in with the kindling, with the other faggots. So that's how you get 'flaming faggot.'
As Casey Cavanagh puts it in her article for Huffington Post:
You don't get to impose your own meaning on words and use them on, or against, other people... at least not while holding the ignorant belief it will go without ridicule -- that the context you're using it in is excusable. You can't reclaim something without a thorough understanding of where it came from and the problem surrounding it. And the fact that you use it so carelessly leads me to assume you don't have that thorough understanding.
You might wanna know that every gay man in America has probably had that word shouted at them while they're being beaten up, sometimes many times, sometimes by a lot of people all at once. So, when you say it, it kind of brings that all back up. But, you know, by all means, use it. Get your laughs. But, you know, now you know what it means. So if a homophobic person actually uses it as an insult, he's actually using it correctly since he's against homosexuality. Not that it's okay but at least he would be using it in the right context because he does want to insult a gay person and he stands by that.
Rockslide claims it doesn't bother him so he can use it whenever and however he wants. While that's partially true, it doesn't mean he can entitle me to just "grow up", take that term and accept it when he uses it as an insult against me. That's not how "grow up" works.
Be responsible. Hold yourself accountable. Pay attention to the words you use, the way you articulate yourself, and be aware of how the things you say may affect people around you. At the very least, take the time to understand the origin of a controversial term you use and the meaning it has for other people in our society before deciding not only whether or not you have the right to say it, but what feeling entitled to do so says about you.
I'm sorry to my fellow mates in the game that it turned into a constant argument with him during the game and probably ruin the atmosphere.: WitZZachTanseyrozlynRaidenmuffinman But I don't think I should just "suck it up" and accept the fact that he's using that term as an insult against me and just do nothing to stand up for myself.
If Rockslide was just using it generally I probably just let it slide but when he's using it as an insult to personally attack me, I'm not gonna not stand up for myself and let him bully me. That's how bullies like Rockslide actually wins and get away with things like that.
