dyer@vaxuum.DEC (This did not happen to/Pablo Picasso) (08/20/85)
Re: Nomenclature - Gay/Homosexual/Lesbian_______________________________________ > There seems nothing wrong with calling people the way they wish being called. > "Black" has replaced "negro" in most American English, and "gay" for "homosex- > ual" is making inroads. If only it were that simple. One main point of my original article was that there really is no consensus at this point, so it's very difficult to call people what they wish to be called. An older black woman once told me that it was an insult to be called "black" back in the fifties. "Negro" was the preferred term, since it was judg- ed to be better than "colored." "Colored" was, when it came into vogue, prefer- red to "nigger." (Back in Pittsburgh's North Side, working class white folk are still a bit behind, debating between "nigger" and "colored." But I digress.) I remember the first episode of _Room_222_, where the new white teacher asked the new black teacher if he preferred to be called "negro" or "black." He said, "just call me Mr. Whatsisname" (I forget his name). That's my approach. When I meet somebody, I just call them "a person" (or similar terms) until I find out what they like to be called. Then I call them that (unless they like to be called something like "Shah of Shahs, Ruler of the Heavens, Light of the Universe" (-:)). The other main point of my article was that whatever nomenclature we choose, it should be nonsexist. This point seems to have been lost in the shuffle, so I'm adding net.women to the discussion (Hi gang!). I strongly feel that the generic term should not be the same as the masculine term. For example, we have "man" for the males and "woman" for the females. Purportedly, "man" can be used as a generic, referring to either sex. I find this sexist and refuse to use it; I use "person" instead. The nomenclature is less clear for people attracted to motss, but it goes something like this: "Gay" means men and "lesbian" means women. Again, it is suggested by some that the masculine term be used as the generic; that is, the word "gay" is applied to both sexes. Alas, there appear to be as many arrangements as there are people. Some women prefer "gay" to "lesbian" because they see "gay" as a generic term, thus making the word "lesbian" seem demeaning. Others see "gay" as a mascu- line term, and decline to have it applied to them. I've met more of the latter group than the former - and I have encoun- tered more "Gay and Lesbian" groups than "Gay" groups, so I tend to use "gay" for men, "lesbian" for women, and "homosexual" for the generic term. That's my solution, at least for now. Perhaps somebody will come up with a different solution, and it will "make inroads." But if it turns out to be YASLC (Yet Another Sexist Language Construct), I will not use it. <_Jym_> P.S.: Some of you may have noticed that I listed "man" before "woman" and "gay" before "lesbian" in the above. I did not do this on basis of sex, I did this because I use alphabetical order. :::::::::::::::: Jym Dyer ::::' :: `:::: Dracut, Massachusetts ::' :: `:: :: :: :: DYER%VAXUUM.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA :: .::::. :: {allegra|decvax|ihnp4|ucbvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-vaxuum!dyer ::..:' :: `:..:: ::::. :: .:::: Statements made in this article are my own; they might not :::::::::::::::: reflect the views of |d|i|g|i|t|a|l| Equipment Corporation. -------------------- Please note that this mail message is likely to be incomplete. The sender aborted the transmission. rhea::MAILER-DAEMON --------------------