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Revision as of 21:29, 26 December 2005
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In modern society, gay is a word which can be used as either a noun or adjective. As a noun, it is most commonly used as a term to identify a man with a homosexual orientation. It can also be used to describe a homosexual woman, although lesbian is more specific. Gay used as an adjective describes traits associated with gays and lesbians, their culture, or perceived lifestyle.
Etymology
Sometimes, histories of word origins are less than useful for communicating modern meanings of socioculturally potent words. Furthermore, the usage of any word changes dramatically as the culture in which it is embedded changes.
Gay once was used to mean "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy" and was very common in speech and literature. In more recent times, starting in the mid 20th century, the word gay cannot be used solely in this former context without the expectation that one will assume a double entendre, or that the person using the term is out of touch with contemporary society. Some have tried to recover the original connotation of the word, but with limited success.
The first name Gay is still occasionally encountered, usually as a female name although the spelling is often altered to Gaye. (795th most common in the 1990 census according to )
Etymology of the modern usage
The use of the term gay, as it relates to homosexuality, is documented as early as the 1920s. Its original meaning was 'happy and carefree', and until the early 20th century a middle-aged bachelor could be described as "gay" without prejudice.
One of Oscar Wilde's favorite venues in Dublin was the Gaiety Theatre, first appearing there in 1884.
A quote from Gertrude Stein's Miss Furr & Mrs. Skeene (1922) is possibly the first traceable use of the word, though it is not altogether clear whether she uses the word to mean lesbianism or happiness:
- They were ...gay, they learned little things that are things in being gay, ... they were quite regularly gay.
The 1929 musical Bitter Sweet by Noel Coward has the first uncontested use of the word: in the song "Green Carnation", four overdressed, 1890s dandies sing:
- Pretty boys, witty boys, You may sneer
- At our disintegration.
- Haughty boys, naughty boys,
- Dear, dear, dear!
- Swooning with affectation...
- And as we are the reason
- For the "Nineties" being gay,
- We all wear a green carnation.
Coward uses the "gay nineties" as a double entendre. The song title alludes to the gay playwright Oscar Wilde, who famously wore a green carnation himself.
However in 1934 the term was still unknown by the general public, as evidenced by the title of the The Gay Divorcee, a musical film about a heterosexual couple. It was originally to be called The Gay Divorce after the play on which it was based, but the Hays Office determined that while a divorcee may be gay, it would be unseemly to allow a divorce to appear so.
Bringing Up Baby (1938) was the first film to use the word gay in reference to homosexuality. In a scene where Cary Grant's clothes have been sent to the cleaners, he must wear a lady's feathery robe. When another character inquires about his clothes, he responds "Because I just went gay...all of a sudden!"
Gay was originally used purely as an adjective ("he is a gay man" or "he is gay"). Gay can be also used as a plural collective-like noun: "Gays are opposed to that policy"; although this usage may be deprecated by some, it is common particularly in the names of various organizations such as PFLAG: (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere). It is rarely used as a singular noun "he is a gay" and sounds unusual in this context, such as in its use by the Little Britain comedy character Daffyd Thomas (a gay man who believes himself "the only gay in the village" despite abundant evidence to the contrary).
In the 1960s, gay became the term predominantly preferred by homosexual men to describe themselves. Gay was the preferred term since homosexual was the name used by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to denote men affected by the "mental illness" of same-sex attraction. The illness of homosexuality was removed from the DSM in 1973, but the clinical connotation of the word was already embedded in society.
By 1963, the word was known well enough by the straight community to be used by Albert Ellis in his book The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Man-Hunting.
Folk etymologies
It has been claimed that "gay" was derived as an acronym for "Good As You", but this is a backronym (based on a fake etymology).
Another folk etymology accrues to Gay Street, a small street in the West Village of New York City — a nexus of homosexual culture. The term also seems, from documentary evidence, to have existed in New York as a code word in the 1940s, where the question, "Are you gay?" would denote more than it might have seemed to outsiders.
Commonly accepted usage
Overview article: Terminology of homosexuality
- Gay is used as an adjective to describe sexual orientation (attraction, preference, or inclination) and is usually chosen instead of homosexual as an identity-label.
- Gay sex involves acts between or among people of the same sex or gender.
- Gay is usually used to describe the "gay community" by both insiders and the mainstream media.
- Gay can be used as a nonspecific derogatory comment towards a person or object.
- Gay is sometimes used to describe an object of particular flamboyance.
- Other connotations can vary widely based upon speaker and situation.
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation, behavior, and self-identification are not necessarily aligned in a clear-cut fashion for a given individual. See sex for a discussion of sex and gender. Some people consider gay and homosexual to be synonyms. Others consider gay to be a matter of self-identification and homosexual to refer to sexual activity or to sexual attraction that is predominantly to members of the same sex. By using these definitions, a person could be gay and not homosexual, or homosexual and not gay.
If a person has had same-sex sexual encounters but does not self-identify as gay, terms such as 'closeted', 'on the down low', 'discreet', or 'bi-curious' may be applied. Conversely, a person may identify as gay without engaging in homosexual sex. Possible choices include identifying as gay socially while choosing to be celibate or while anticipating a first homosexual experience. Further, a bisexual person may identify as gay while maintaining a monogamous relationship with a member of the opposite sex. Still others might consider gay and bisexual to be mutually exclusive.
Some same-sex oriented persons prefer 'homosexual' as an identity over 'gay', seeing the former as describing a sexual orientation and the latter as describing a cultural or socio-political group with which they do not identify.
Self-identification
Self-identification of one's sexual orientation is becoming far more commonplace in areas of increased social acceptance, but many are either reluctant to self-identify publicly or even privately to themselves. The process is fairly complex, and many groups related to gay people cite inadvertent heterosexism as a leading problem for those that would otherwise self-identify.
Selecting the appropriate term
Some people reject the term homosexual as an identity-label because they find it too clinical-sounding. They believe it is too focused on physical acts rather than romance or attraction, or too reminiscent of the era when homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Conversely, some people find the term gay to be offensive or reject it as an identity-label because they perceive the cultural connotations to be undesirable or because of the negative connotations of the slang usage of the word.
According to the Safe Schools Coalition of Washington's Glossary for School Employees:
- "Homosexual: Avoid this term; it is clinical, distancing and archaic. Sometimes appropriate in referring to behavior (although same-sex is the preferred adj.). When referring to people, as opposed to behavior, homosexual is considered derogatory and the terms gay and lesbian are preferred, at least in the Northwest ."
Sometimes the term gay is used to describe both same-sex male and same-sex female relations. More rarely, it is used as a shorthand for terms queer or gay, lesbian, bisexual, etc. The term also sometimes includes transgender, transsexual, and intersexual. Some trans and intersexed individuals find their inclusion in this larger grouping to be offensive. It is commonly used to refer specifically to gay men; the precise meaning may need to be made clear from context. The term lesbian, however, is exclusively female.
Gay community
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The emotional, cultural, social and erotic lives of gay people are represented by the gay community. Although there is wide ethnic, socioeconomic and cultural variation within the community, social cohesion exists for several reasons. For example, many LGBT people have been through similar experiences. The community also serves as a refuge from homophobia, though this role is decreasing in many parts of the world as society becomes more comfortable with LGBT people.
Descriptor
The term gay can also be used as an adjective to describe things related to gay people or things which are part of gay culture. For example, while a gay bar is not itself homosexual, using gay as an adjective to describe the bar indicates that the bar is either gay-oriented, caters primarily to gay men, or is otherwise part of gay culture.
Using it to describe an object, such as an item of clothing, suggests that it is particularly flamboyant, often on the verge of being gaudy and garish. This stems from the notion that such items appeal to gay people (usually to gay men).
Using the term gay as an adjective where the meaning is akin to "related to gay people, culture, or homosexuality in general" is a widely accepted use of the word. By contrast, using gay in the pejorative sense, to describe something solely as negative, can cause offense.
Pejorative usage
When used with a derisive attitude (e.g. "that film was so gay"), the term gay is purely pejorative and can be deeply offensive. The derogatory implication is that the object (or person) in question is inferior, worthless, effeminate, or stupid. This usage has its origins in the 1980s, when homosexuality had already become mainstream but was still taboo. Beginning in the 1990s and especially in the 2000s this usage is common among young people, who may or may not link the term to gay people.
Alternate spellings
Other spellings, such as "ghey" and "ghei", are sometimes found on the Internet and are used in an attempt to bypass chat room censors.
See also
- Bisexuality
- Civil rights
- Coming out
- Dyke
- Fag
- Gay pride
- Gay rights
- Homosexuality
- Lesbian
- List of LGBT-related organizations
- List of gay-related topics
- List of gay, lesbian or bisexual people
- Queer
- Religion and sexuality
- Sexual orientation
External links
- Gay Rights Watch
- Gay.com News & Chat
- GayCrawler.com Gay and Lesbian worldwide directory
- About Gay Movies Everything you always wanted to know about gay themed movies & tv-series