Fuckboys and feminazis: Why language matters
Yes, those terms are loaded with freighted cultural context. Just like lesbian, trans, truscum, TERF, gay… So much of queer culture, even just calling it queer culture, is bounded by language that has loaded meanings used both within specific confines and at cross purposes. Even term is dissected, desiccated, and reheated to serve the person who uses it, often resulting in either misunderstanding or misappreciation of the intended meaning. So yes, fuckboys and feminazis have their place, as does queer et al.
But who gets to define and empower these terms? Is this an intersectional issue, whereby verboten words are claimed by marginalised groups? Is it more the evolution of the English language perpetually reconceptualises what words mean within our lived experiences? Or, on a fundamental level, does the power relationship we have with words eb and flow as discourse happen? There is a lot to unpack from those three ideas, and while they are all relevant and should be interrogated, this article focuses on a fusion of linguistic evolution and empowerment, with power dynamics rooting language use in the ever onwards nature of language.
Queer language is rooted in oppression, the very facts that we use euphemisms to describe our sense of self and that others immediately bridge normative activities with cis sobriquets shows the othering effect that language has on queer folk. Marriage is union between two people, yet when ‘gay’ is added it suddenly becomes a cultural weapon. Queerness, the very term I am getting comfortable using about myself, is loaded with two centuries of oppressive history. There was nothing intrinsically ‘good’ with the term queer, until it was repossessed and reoccupied by those who felt an affinity with all fuzzy edges. That reclamation re-empowered a whole rainbow of language, while exiling older terms to the verboten zone. Power shifted.
Why fuckboys? Why TERF? Why feminazi? Each has their own freighted meaning, both full of shade drawn from both oppression and exasperation. TERF is only a slur if you think that excluding trans folk from the feminist conversation is a good thing. On the other hand, feminazi is a broadside aimed at shutting down feminist conversation. Language is a weapon, both of oppression and subversion. Guerrilla warfare in the face of entrenched systems that accept casual weapon’s grade bullying.
Sticks will certainly break and bow you, but words have the power to rip apart your very core identity. The right words construct a deep sense of self and identity, empowering you to be a paragon unto what you wish to be. Conversely, words that rend you apart strip back your very notion of selfhood, leaving you scrambling to reconstruct yourself. This why free speech is never ‘free’, it always has a consequence; what you say, write, and present have impactful contextual meaning. Yes, of course words do not physically brand, slash or hack, but they can inspire people to act, drive a person over the edge, or remould a person into a new self.
Minority intersectional folk understand this, for at the root of their oppression is the language of power, the common parlance that shuts them out of the conversation. Theirs are the gaps in between, the fundament from which language rises out of the deep to reclaim and empower. Those spaces in between are soon reclaimed and commoditised by majority culture, ever pushing minorities to both reclaim and reinvent just to survive.
I am not a fan of leaving a language frozen in some idealised moment. It must evolve and reinvent itself. We must reclaim and empower, tear down oppression and park in the verboten zone words that by their very nature chain others. It is not enough to ironically repossess a word, or claim a word for your own. Every word has context and meaning, and as she we all should respect that context and the power they hold. Free speech is essential, but the price is accepting contextual meaning and being wise with the application. Queer folk know this better than anybody.
