Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> Gar Lipow wrote:
>
> >Oh well, "asshole" remains unobjectionable.
>
> Why? They're importantly functional and can even give pleasure.
> Interrogate the term's unacknowledged heteronormativity!
>
As far as I know, no gay men (or hetero 'sodomists') have indicated that
they are indeed hurt by the use of the term. If and when any number
should feel it as a slur at them, then it would be obnoxious. No given
sound is in itself obnoxious -- it becomes obnoxious only when it begins
to reflect or invoke or confirm social relations that are hurtful. I
don't know how many young people commit suicide each year, but a sizable
proportion of that total almost certainly is due at least partly and in
some cases wholly to the expression "No kid of mine is crazy" And the
prevalence of that expression is bound up with all the social relations
as well as linguistic uses (e.g. "psychotic" as referring to _persons_
rather than symptoms) which (among people in the mental illness
community) is summed up in the word "stigma." Stigma kills.
Incidentally, when gays speak among themselves, do they speak of "anal
sex" or "asshole sex"? Or do they use other expressions altogether?
Carrol
