Is "jessie" a homophobic slur?
Colin MacDonald
Recently, I was beaten soundly around the mailbox for referring to someone
as a "jessie". The beating was administered by a homosexual male (not my
original subject) who decreed that "jessie" is a homophobic slur, and is
derogatory to homosexual males.
Now, I contend that the technical term for his argument is that it is
"bollocks", and here's why.
To me the common use of "jessie" - within the Scottish culture at least -
IS derogarory, but it is NOT based on sexuality. Rather, it is based on
your ability to conform to our cultural stereotype, which basically means
you don't like to fight or drink. You can shag twa birds every night, but
if you can't hold your beer, then you are a jessie. Conversely, you can be
a homosexual male, but if your idea of a good night out is ten pints, a
fight and a kebab, then you are NOT a jessie.
I think that one of the prime arguments in my FAVOUR is that "jessie" and
"poof" (which I acknowledge as a homophobic slur) are used more or less
interchangeably as schoolyard insults. In small children at least, the
sexual connotations of "poof" are lost: it is used to insult wee lads who
don't like fitba or fighting. As they gain knowledge of sex, "poof" is
*still* used (inaccurately) to insult boys who are clearly heterosexual,
because it has become habitual to mix "poof" and "jessie". Likewise,
"jessie" is still used to insult homosexuals regardless of their
personality, but this is because the issues of homosexuality and "softness"
are tightly correlated in our culture.
I concede that "jessie" IS sometimes used as a homophobic slur, largely
because it is so strongly associated with the schoolyard "poof", BUT that
being homosexual is neither necessary nor sufficient to qualify someone as
a "jessie". "Jessie" is (IMHO) more closely associated with the terms
"queeny" or "camp" - and you do NOT have to be homosexual to be "camp".
Now hear this: I am NOT denying that "jessie" can be (and is) used as an
insult to homosexual males, and that it can indeed be hurtful. What I am
saying is that it is INACCURATE and INCORRECT to do so, and that we (as a
culture) should NOT let this beautifully evocative word fall prey to the
rising tide of political correctness. Like "ballcock" it has sexual
connotations IF you want to use it as such, but it is *not* a sexual word
and we should treasure it as part of our cultural heritage.
Agree? Disagree? Think the whole thing is bollocks?
- Colin MacDonald -
mailto:cc...@digital-animations.DELETETHISWORD.com
Colin Rosenthal
On Tue, 03 Jun 1997 09:14:23 GMT, Colin MacDonald <n...@bloody.likely> wrote:
>Recently, I was beaten soundly around the mailbox for referring to someone
>as a "jessie". The beating was administered by a homosexual male (not my
>original subject) who decreed that "jessie" is a homophobic slur, and is
>derogatory to homosexual males.
>
>Now, I contend that the technical term for his argument is that it is
>"bollocks", and here's why.
I agree one hundred percent and anyone who disagrees is, frankly, a
big jessie.
For any yanks who may be wondering, I think the best translation
is probably "wuss".
--
Colin Rosenthal
High Altitude Observatory
Boulder, Colorado
rose...@hao.ucar.edu
Micheil Rob Mac Phàdruig
"Colin MacDonald" <n...@bloody.likely> wrote:
>Recently, I was beaten soundly around the mailbox for referring to someone
>as a "jessie". The beating was administered by a homosexual male (not my
>original subject) who decreed that "jessie" is a homophobic slur, and is
>derogatory to homosexual males.
>Now, I contend that the technical term for his argument is that it is
>"bollocks", and here's why.
>To me the common use of "jessie" - within the Scottish culture at least -
Not at all; you touch on a most interesting point. My grandmother used
"gay" to qualify a happy occasion; I do not. And indeed this is one of
the more irresistible forces of a culture, the changing of the mother
language. In modern society it is accelerated by the rapid interchange
of words and ideas on a global basis, whereas in your grandfather's
time it's quite likely that his speech and vocabulary noticeably
varied from those of others living only a few miles away.
A much more devastating change is probably that of Yiddish. At the
beginning of this century, Yiddish was a vibrant language; in New York
there were Yiddish newspapers like the Daily Forward; an incredible
Yiddish theatre to which we owe a large part of our current comedic
styles and even a part of our vocabulary and speech patterns. When you
say, "So this fellow comes up to me and says..." you're using a
Yiddish speech pattern not formerly found in English or Scots, but
swiftly spread and adopted because of rapid mass communication.
It might interest you to know that "bluff" as in "he's a bluff sort of
chap" was considered outrageously slangy 200 years ago. Nelson
confided (was confident) that every man would his duty; the message
was changed because no flag in the Navy's signalling system stood for
"confide." I suppose it later changed to its modern meaning because
when you told someone a secret you were confident that he wouldn't
blurt it out to 150 of his most intimate friends.
"Silly" is a classic. In modern German - "selig" - it means "holy" and
did in English 1000 years ago. But slowly it changed its meaning in
English, first to "innocent", then to "childlike", then to "rustic" or
"countrified", to "ignorant" and finally to plain "stupid".
I agree with you about the word "jessie," but you'll be in the same
position as King Canute if you seek to halt the tidal flow of change.
Měcheil Rob MacPhŕdruig
Drůidh:duine-uasal
Stephanie Piro/John Nolan/Nico Piro
Colin MacDonald <n...@bloody.likely> wrote in article
<01bc6ffe$bb8a2360$1101...@galactica.digimate.co.uk>...
> Recently, I was beaten soundly around the mailbox for referring to
someone
> as a "jessie". The beating was administered by a homosexual male (not my
> original subject) who decreed that "jessie" is a homophobic slur, and is
> derogatory to homosexual males.
>
> Now, I contend that the technical term for his argument is that it is
> "bollocks", and here's why.
>
I think your reasoning extremely sound, Colin. Could you now focus your
riveting analysis on the insult "yer a big girl's blouse." Thank you in
anticipation.