That’s so mainstream
Something’s been on my mind lately, and I figure I’d do what any other person of my generation would do: write about it in my blog. (Actually, I guess I should write about this on Facebook or MySpace, but since I have my own Web site…) I’ve been thinking about the phrase, “That’s so gay.” Like sagging pants and the ’80s, I hoped that this phrase would go away once I left high school. And it has, for the most part, at least in my world.
This phrase is commonly called a “playground taunt” and I guess I’m lucky that the first time I heard the phrase wasn’t until 11th grade. It’s not surprising really. If I wasn’t hanging out by myself growing up, I usually was around polite, straight-A students. I actually remember the scenario in which I first heard “That’s so gay,” and it shocked me when it happened, but it was uttered by someone in the “regular program” and, in my Oscar Wilde imitation, it seemed like something I could attribute to the lower classes.
However, the phrase is widespread, yet seemingly innocuous. Most people who use the phrase claim that it has no connection to gay people. People say it’s like the word “gypped” — most people don’t know that the word is derogatory towards gypsies. But, c’mon, how many bonafide gypsies are there wandering the halls of American high schools? (As a side note, my guitar teacher in high school sought to motivate us while teaching us a somber ballad by saying, “Let’s pretend we’re a bunch of gypsies and we just got caught shoplifting.” I actually had no idea why she suggested that, because I didn’t know anything about gypsies at the time.)
It’s easy to see how “gypped” has lost its context, but what is the most common use of the word “gay” in today’s world? To say that “gay” doesn’t connote gay people seems to be idiotic, even if the idiot who said it doesn’t think so.
Is it worth fighting over? Probably not. People can use the words “bad” and “filthy” to describe something good or cool. I guess they can use a word that meant happy, then homosexual, to mean something bad (and by bad, I don’t mean good). However, I think the core irritation I have about “That’s so gay” is that the phrase itself has lost context. It reduces a bunch of other good arguments into one simple, flippant phrase. I think many things that get called “gay” are bad. But they’re bad because they’re so mainstream, they’re so bland, they’re so outdated, they’re so poor quality. They’re so acceptable. So c’mon, that’s not gay. That’s most of American society.
28 July 2008 – 1:30 AM