Why Is The Term "Fag" Used As An Insult?

Question

I know it means gay, but gay isn't a bad thing. Is it because the people who use it, hate gays? Why don't they just say "You straight person" instead of "You fag"? I'm just wondering. Answers would be appeciated.

Jeez didn;t show...

the term is f a g

Answer 1

It is offensive when used in an offensive way--which is usually the case unless used by a gay/lesbian/bi person (though I have seen exceptions). It is used by gays/lesbians/bis in the same way that African -Americans may use the n word. It trivializes the hateful connotation with which the word has always been assoicated and thereby neutralizes the hate.

Answer 2

Millions of men and women were burned at the stake (and tortured and killed in various other ways) in the Dark Ages. Some were suspected of being gay, some of being a witch (a sure thing if they kept a cat). A f/***** was the term for a bundle of sticks. Get enough of them together and you have enough to burn someone at the stake. Most people don't remember that this is why it is an insult, but it basically means, "you've been identified; me and my buddies are getting some wood to burn you alive."

Answer 3

This is a word that we have been using to describe ourselves for decades, perhaps for centuries, and, until 1970s, without the Enemy's being aware of it, namely "gay". The word is not a variant of the word that means light-hearted and carefree, though I am sure that overtone is always present, because it does describe us, too. In this sense, it is cognate with the German and Dutch word "geil", pronounced differently in the two languages and meaning "horny" (US) "randy" (British); this relationship makes me wonder just how long the word would have been used in the perforce secret gay world before it surfaced generally in gay bars and pubs throughout the English-speaking world in the 1930s, when gradually the threat of persecution was receding. English and German or Dutch were last mutually intelligible hundreds of years ago, but there have been several waves of German and Dutch immigration into England and Scotland since then. As I do not regard myself as "queer" or "bent" and the heteros as "straight", I describe myself as "gay", and avoid the pseudo-medical term "homosexual" when I can, as I do not regard myself as "sick", either.

Answer 4

It holds different meaning to different people. Personally, I don't like it in ANY context, no matter who's saying it (including my other gay friends), because of it's roots as referring to burning humans alive. I'm all about reclaiming pretty much any other word, but that one I want no part in.


(Fruit-fly works just as well as hag, and is not as offensive to either party)

Answer 5

i think it would be safe to say people who use that term are homophobic. they want to make sure noone mistakes them as being gay so they use the derogatory term. there are those that do hate gays but they do more than name call.

Answer 6

I don't know. I don't understand that one or why people use the "n" word. I hear it said as often as I hear hello.

Answer 7

They get mad when you call them f a g s and homos because these names make a bad impression of the person being called one. They also feel ashamed because it's harsh and in itself describes homosexuality as a whole. It's just like a prostitute getting offended when she is called a slut, whore, hoe etc, it makes her feel ashamed of her lifestyle even though that's what she is.

Answer 8

its the way they use it
but f u put it in lets for example
a f.a.g-hag its a nice word

Answer 9

It is a slur which is never appropriate