Faggot would more often apply to a weak, wimpy man. Similar to to pansy. That probably comes from the British private school set up, where young students would act as "fags" to older students, doing everything for them from polishing shoes to running errands in the rain. Don't forget that Australia and NZ were settled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The English we speak is very much of those times. And the vast majority of our cultural education has been British. The American influence is from much, much later.
The weak and wimpy is part of the negative connotation, the association that just because a man is queer he is likely weak and effeminate, he is unmanly. It's part and parcel with the insult.
Also, faggot is used so frequently as an insult that the meanings got lost along the way. Like the word "cunt" (yeah, even typing that was difficult ).
Words do tend to lose their meaning to those who aren't targeted by them. As a queer man my ears perk up every time I hear someone call someone else a faggot, a queer, a fairy. In person, I have the opportunity to listen to the context and decide how to react to that particular situation. Cunt definitely hasn't lost its meaning over here.
So I think you are being over the top with the whole soul searching thing. She made a mistake, she's apologised, move on.
I'm not emotionally involved in her or this situation, so there's no need to move on for me. I do think she needs to look inside to decide where that came from. If it came from a place that denigrates another person for being different, that's something she should look into changing.
Looking at her apology, she doesn't explain where she came from with it. All she does is say that it was out of character and that she isn't homophobic. If it's not a slur against queer folk, and is only a meaningless insult, then she should say that was how she meant it. The way she's defending herself implies, to me, that she does need to look inside.
I was Phelix on wotmania, I will always be Phelix in the "real" world, and now I am Phelix on RAFO.
You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.- Churchill
*MySmiley*
You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.- Churchill
*MySmiley*
Interesting way to bring people together
08/09/2010 04:36:19 PM
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1. That girl is an idiot who needs to do some soul searching...
08/09/2010 07:07:47 PM
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? not that her comment was excusable...
08/09/2010 07:45:59 PM
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It's not a cardinal sin against humanity...
08/09/2010 07:55:55 PM
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or it just means...
08/09/2010 08:18:57 PM
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Societal problems don't go away from the group level.
08/09/2010 08:25:21 PM
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You have an odd definition of homophobe (or at least that's what your last paragraph implies).
08/09/2010 10:04:52 PM
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I was trying to use her words...
08/09/2010 10:17:32 PM
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Ah, okay. Her apology does seem rather clumsy, agreed there.
08/09/2010 11:05:34 PM
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Glad to clear up that confusion.
08/09/2010 11:11:35 PM
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I don't think you should read too much in the exact wording of her apology.
08/09/2010 11:24:21 PM
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You should watch that Southpark episode where they change the meaning of the word faggot.
08/09/2010 09:24:16 PM
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I've seen it, and it was funny.
08/09/2010 09:40:43 PM
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Suspect you need to consider the way the word is used in other countries.
08/09/2010 09:46:05 PM
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I admit, I don't know many (any) kiwis personally (in person that is)...
08/09/2010 09:52:45 PM
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The insult word for homosexuals Downunder tends to be Fruit or Queer.
08/09/2010 09:58:04 PM
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OK, I can see that.
08/09/2010 10:09:16 PM
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I think it's unfair to people to assume that there's some underlying bad nature...
08/09/2010 10:18:29 PM
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I'm not assuming there's an underlying bad nature, I am saying she should look to see if it's there.
08/09/2010 10:27:21 PM
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And I'm saying that you're instantly looking on the negative side of things instead of
08/09/2010 10:46:11 PM
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I don't think I'm looking at the negative side of things, merely saying that she needs to look.
08/09/2010 11:01:11 PM
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Or, she was replying to interview questions and thinking on her feet.
08/09/2010 11:10:26 PM
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She said she needs to learn to think before she tweets lol
08/09/2010 08:14:38 PM
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Yes, but that's just a surface change.
08/09/2010 08:20:59 PM
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