Reach

The Works of Melissa Danko

Draft 1

Blog Posts

1. Macklemore’s “Same Love”

the message it sends

emphasis on rap/hip-hop

part about “that’s so gay” getting used everyday

2. came across this video of Macklemore performing “Same Love” on Ellen, which lead to me finding this other video of her talking to Anderson Cooper

how harmful words are used as bullying

3. how I hear it day to day

talk to peers about it?

do survey/see how many people use these words?

4. Eminem’s use of homophobic slurs

touch on Anderson Cooper interview

why his excuses were no good

he’s so great he should be able to come up with better words

5. “Hah gayyy” clip from Community

posted as a comment on someone else’s Facebook post to label it as “gay”

using it as comedy perpetuates its usage, because people fail to see a problem with it

other idea: issues (or non-issues) of calling something “gay”

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/men-20/201205/the-complexity-thats-so-gay

Origin

intro on Dave Wilton

“Faggot”

Wordorigins.org, Dave Wilton (June 18, 2006)

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/285/

no one knows for sure, but there are speculations as to the process by which the word came to describe homosexuals

ultimate origin unknown, although it comes from the word for a bundle of sticks

most likely explanation: bundle of sticks is a burden to carry

late 16th century, became used to describe a woman (shrew, because of baggage)

became used to describe gay men by relating them to women/having feminine qualities

recent and of American origin, around the 20th century

“Gay”

Wordorigins.org, Dave Wilton (February 2, 2009)

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/gay/

comes from French word gai, although this origin is unknown

there are similar forms in other romance languages, but no clear Latin root

first recorded use is in English with the meaning of beautiful

it evolved into meaning bright, showy, and well dressed

it had taken on the sense of light-hearted and carefree by the end of the 14th century

this original meaning of the word has since changed into one that means “homosexual”

fairly recent, dating to around the 1920’s

mainstream usage picked up in the late 1960’s

common explanations:

shortened form of gaycat, slang for men who would trade sexual favors for money

extension of the early meaning of self-indulgent or immoral

originally slang within the homosexual community, but it was brought to mainstream usage following the Stonewall riots/introduction of gay rights activism

About

made to raise awareness about how our words, regardless of intention, can hurt others

word choice—we need to use the words we really mean, not “gay” or “fag”

people use these words without meaning to be hurtful, but they need to be more conscious of how their words are being perceived

Other Campaigns

Australian campaign

http://www.notohomophobia.com.au/

Polish campaign

http://world.kph.org.pl/

American campaign

http://www.thinkb4youspeak.com/

Annotated Bib Additions

ThinkB4YouSpeak

Ellen/Anderson Cooper Clip

Wordorigins.org

PSA’s

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