for That's So Ridiculous8/4/2013 c1 Guest
Great insights.
Great insights.
11/15/2012 c1 Guest
I have said a few things, absentmindedly, "That is gay." But what I actually meant was "That is very lame." Words can be defined as multiple meanings, not just one. I'm not homophobic, since som of my friend's are lesbian, homosexual and etc. etc. Just because it comes out unintentionally doesn't mean I'm ignorant. -.-
I have said a few things, absentmindedly, "That is gay." But what I actually meant was "That is very lame." Words can be defined as multiple meanings, not just one. I'm not homophobic, since som of my friend's are lesbian, homosexual and etc. etc. Just because it comes out unintentionally doesn't mean I'm ignorant. -.-
6/25/2010 c1 Anonymiss
Can I print this out and use it as a guide for my future essays? Just kidding. I really liked it though, as essays go. I hope you got a good grade!
Can I print this out and use it as a guide for my future essays? Just kidding. I really liked it though, as essays go. I hope you got a good grade!
5/16/2010 c1 
12lovely-fox-xo
This has always been something I never really knew how to argue... it may be just a saying, but saying "I'm so angry I want to kick a baby in the face," is also just a saying, yet taken much more offensively. The commonness if this phrase is quite disturbing, and the eleven year old is right, it is something to be "fed up" about. It's definitely teaching younger children that homosexuality is wrong, and although that idea may be pushed upon them by their parents anyway (my mother does), being told by your peers influences children much, much more. I don't know... the essay was very well written, and I agree. I'm favoriting it :D
12lovely-fox-xoThis has always been something I never really knew how to argue... it may be just a saying, but saying "I'm so angry I want to kick a baby in the face," is also just a saying, yet taken much more offensively. The commonness if this phrase is quite disturbing, and the eleven year old is right, it is something to be "fed up" about. It's definitely teaching younger children that homosexuality is wrong, and although that idea may be pushed upon them by their parents anyway (my mother does), being told by your peers influences children much, much more. I don't know... the essay was very well written, and I agree. I'm favoriting it :D
1/11/2010 c1 Justin
Really, there's only 2 solutions.
One, to stop using the word.
Two, to steel yourselves, and stop being so sensitive.
I'm a gay man, yet I use the word 'fag' and 'gay' as profanities quite often.
Then again, I don't have an ounce of gay pride.
Really, there's only 2 solutions.
One, to stop using the word.
Two, to steel yourselves, and stop being so sensitive.
I'm a gay man, yet I use the word 'fag' and 'gay' as profanities quite often.
Then again, I don't have an ounce of gay pride.
12/19/2009 c1 1sweedish fish
This is so great! I constantly remind my friends that gay is not an insult. I've got them to stop saying "that's so gay" all together, because they don't want to hear me talk about it anymore! lol but I truly enjoyed reading this!
1sweedish fishThis is so great! I constantly remind my friends that gay is not an insult. I've got them to stop saying "that's so gay" all together, because they don't want to hear me talk about it anymore! lol but I truly enjoyed reading this!
11/5/2009 c1 1tarryfairy
I'm so glad you posted this. It really bothers me when I hear people use the word gay as an insult. I'll admit that I used to say it myself a few years ago before I stopped to think about exactly what I was doing, and I had to work pretty hard to get myself to drop it from my vocabulary, just because SO MANY people use it that way. But I think you're right, a lot of people just don't think about what they're implying when they say stuff like that, though sadly, some people I'm sure DO do it on purpose.
Anyways, I hope you got a good grade for your paper! It was really well written, but I know how tough some AP teachers can be. Keep up the good work!
1tarryfairyI'm so glad you posted this. It really bothers me when I hear people use the word gay as an insult. I'll admit that I used to say it myself a few years ago before I stopped to think about exactly what I was doing, and I had to work pretty hard to get myself to drop it from my vocabulary, just because SO MANY people use it that way. But I think you're right, a lot of people just don't think about what they're implying when they say stuff like that, though sadly, some people I'm sure DO do it on purpose.
Anyways, I hope you got a good grade for your paper! It was really well written, but I know how tough some AP teachers can be. Keep up the good work!
3/20/2009 c1 1xXSingleRedTearXx
I really liked this, if only because I was feeling guilty about having corrected my friends several times for using the phrase. It's always bothered me, and I've always felt somewhat insulted when it was used.
I noticed some people in reviews were arguing that the meanings of words change and that we should 'get over it'. However, I'd like to point out that, yes, while word meanings change, when that change is directly related to bigotry, I won't 'get over it'. 'Gay' as an insult didn't start by pure coincidence. It started because 'gay', as in 'homosexual', /was/ considered an insult for the longest time. So, gay ('insult') is not uncorelated to gay ('homosexual'). Proof: At my school, along with 'That's so gay' to describe anything stupid or unmasculine, 'That's straight' is used to describe anything that's really 'cool'.
1xXSingleRedTearXxI really liked this, if only because I was feeling guilty about having corrected my friends several times for using the phrase. It's always bothered me, and I've always felt somewhat insulted when it was used.
I noticed some people in reviews were arguing that the meanings of words change and that we should 'get over it'. However, I'd like to point out that, yes, while word meanings change, when that change is directly related to bigotry, I won't 'get over it'. 'Gay' as an insult didn't start by pure coincidence. It started because 'gay', as in 'homosexual', /was/ considered an insult for the longest time. So, gay ('insult') is not uncorelated to gay ('homosexual'). Proof: At my school, along with 'That's so gay' to describe anything stupid or unmasculine, 'That's straight' is used to describe anything that's really 'cool'.
1/25/2009 c1 1wikus
First, I'd like to say you're a great potential as a writer. I just read Blind Yourself, and wrote a HUGE review and analised each character and everything, but my firefox bugged and I lost it all. I'm so pissed off. I can't re-write it right now, but I'll some day. Maybe when you update.
Well, I liked the essay - except for some details, like the last paragraph; I felt like I was reading No Cussing Club's website or something. You almost convinced me of your point of view, which isn't so easy. But I still entirely disagree with you.
I don't think the use of the word 'gay' as something negative should be anything to worry about. Actually, I sense a little fascism in the way you say how people should act and talk. The last thing we need is a dictionary of forbidden words, or where and when to use each.
By the way, the word gay, just like you said, used to mean happy, something positive. I bet people who condemn homosexuality aren't very pleased about its new conotation, especially because so many works used it with the old meaning. I don't know what was C. S. Lewis' opinion towards homosexuality, but I know he was a devoted christian and I just reckon he wasn't very cheeful with the idea. Now, I don't think he would like to know what everyone thinks and gigle about when they read his character, the Queen, was very 'happy and gay'.
I also heard a lot about homosexuals who doesn't like to be called 'gay'. They say their sexuality has nothing to do with being happy - quite the opposite, but yet the same thing, you defend. You see, I saw this old guy talking about this in an interview and I would describe him as 'gay' for his sexuality, but I would NEVER think about the original meaning of the word. He looked anything but happy. And what you're saying is just the same he's saying, which is quite stupid.
Apart that, Cheesesticks said it all.
Oh, and the-truth-is-verity was wondering if there was the same 'problem' in other languages. Well, I'm brazilian, and here we do the same thing. I can't remember how many times I heard someone say "que gay" (yeah, we use the same word). I know I must have said it sometimes, and in front of some gay friends too. I actually questioned a lesbian friend once how she feels about gay jokes from me and other of our friends, and she said she never cared, because she knows we don't really think gay is wrong.
I guess it's nothing big, even if it's from someone who actually hates gay people. The problem isn't the use of the word, but the real intention behind it.
Well, all in all, nice essay. How much did you score?
1wikusFirst, I'd like to say you're a great potential as a writer. I just read Blind Yourself, and wrote a HUGE review and analised each character and everything, but my firefox bugged and I lost it all. I'm so pissed off. I can't re-write it right now, but I'll some day. Maybe when you update.
Well, I liked the essay - except for some details, like the last paragraph; I felt like I was reading No Cussing Club's website or something. You almost convinced me of your point of view, which isn't so easy. But I still entirely disagree with you.
I don't think the use of the word 'gay' as something negative should be anything to worry about. Actually, I sense a little fascism in the way you say how people should act and talk. The last thing we need is a dictionary of forbidden words, or where and when to use each.
By the way, the word gay, just like you said, used to mean happy, something positive. I bet people who condemn homosexuality aren't very pleased about its new conotation, especially because so many works used it with the old meaning. I don't know what was C. S. Lewis' opinion towards homosexuality, but I know he was a devoted christian and I just reckon he wasn't very cheeful with the idea. Now, I don't think he would like to know what everyone thinks and gigle about when they read his character, the Queen, was very 'happy and gay'.
I also heard a lot about homosexuals who doesn't like to be called 'gay'. They say their sexuality has nothing to do with being happy - quite the opposite, but yet the same thing, you defend. You see, I saw this old guy talking about this in an interview and I would describe him as 'gay' for his sexuality, but I would NEVER think about the original meaning of the word. He looked anything but happy. And what you're saying is just the same he's saying, which is quite stupid.
Apart that, Cheesesticks said it all.
Oh, and the-truth-is-verity was wondering if there was the same 'problem' in other languages. Well, I'm brazilian, and here we do the same thing. I can't remember how many times I heard someone say "que gay" (yeah, we use the same word). I know I must have said it sometimes, and in front of some gay friends too. I actually questioned a lesbian friend once how she feels about gay jokes from me and other of our friends, and she said she never cared, because she knows we don't really think gay is wrong.
I guess it's nothing big, even if it's from someone who actually hates gay people. The problem isn't the use of the word, but the real intention behind it.
Well, all in all, nice essay. How much did you score?
1/2/2009 c1 Leesha
sorry, but i'm going to keep saying thats so gay. gay doesnt just mean one thing. just becuz i say thats so gay doesnt mean i'm putting people down. my best friend is gay. he thinks its crap that people are getting so beefed up about a simple use of slang. in a way to me, its like those animal rights people throwing paint on anybody who wears fur. its just a little to extream.
sorry, but i'm going to keep saying thats so gay. gay doesnt just mean one thing. just becuz i say thats so gay doesnt mean i'm putting people down. my best friend is gay. he thinks its crap that people are getting so beefed up about a simple use of slang. in a way to me, its like those animal rights people throwing paint on anybody who wears fur. its just a little to extream.
8/24/2008 c1 Alex Cole
Very bad essay, uses slang, passive voice, "We" (Persuasive essays are supposed to be written in 3rd Person), The Nazism comparison was very bad. I loathed the use of a copied block of text showed a lack of creativity. The most critical failure is your weak connection to homophobia, there was barely any support you gave to support your claim.
Very bad essay, uses slang, passive voice, "We" (Persuasive essays are supposed to be written in 3rd Person), The Nazism comparison was very bad. I loathed the use of a copied block of text showed a lack of creativity. The most critical failure is your weak connection to homophobia, there was barely any support you gave to support your claim.
7/4/2008 c1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
very interesting :) I also agree with you completely. At my school a lot of people say things like, 'Oh my God, this homework is so gay!'
I mean... what?
I'm pretty certian that they aren't actually referring to the homework's sexual orientation -_-
Obviously, though, pointing this out to them still doesn't really help them to understand, but I'm hoping that this is a phase in language that will pass.
I wonder if they have the same issue in other languages at the moment...?
very interesting :) I also agree with you completely. At my school a lot of people say things like, 'Oh my God, this homework is so gay!'
I mean... what?
I'm pretty certian that they aren't actually referring to the homework's sexual orientation -_-
Obviously, though, pointing this out to them still doesn't really help them to understand, but I'm hoping that this is a phase in language that will pass.
I wonder if they have the same issue in other languages at the moment...?
7/3/2008 c1 9ThePixess
Very persuasive and true; I particularly related to the bit about how you wouldn't like it if someone used your name as a swear word- I thought it a very clear analogy, and part of the reason I try to avoid phrases like "thats so gay" and (this is just personal to my religion, I don't really get offended when other people say it, I myself just try to avoid it) "Oh my God."
Anyway, this was really well written and thought out, and on a more sentimental note it makes me feel better about a persuasive paper *I* wrote in favor of gay marriage, which I recieved a D on because I was very green as far as essay writer, had a very hard teacher, and (being a new student at the time) didn't understand what MLA format meant (yeah, I know- this was awhile ago).
Lovely essay!
~The Pixess
P.S. Thanks for saying that about InSilverShadows, I know her and she's a lovely writer and person!
9ThePixessVery persuasive and true; I particularly related to the bit about how you wouldn't like it if someone used your name as a swear word- I thought it a very clear analogy, and part of the reason I try to avoid phrases like "thats so gay" and (this is just personal to my religion, I don't really get offended when other people say it, I myself just try to avoid it) "Oh my God."
Anyway, this was really well written and thought out, and on a more sentimental note it makes me feel better about a persuasive paper *I* wrote in favor of gay marriage, which I recieved a D on because I was very green as far as essay writer, had a very hard teacher, and (being a new student at the time) didn't understand what MLA format meant (yeah, I know- this was awhile ago).
Lovely essay!
~The Pixess
P.S. Thanks for saying that about InSilverShadows, I know her and she's a lovely writer and person!