By Mehak Anwar, Editor in Chief, Emerson College
My Semi-formal, Slightly Academic Analysis of Problematic Words and Their Implications
Classy: Colloquially, the word classy is use to describe something sophisticated, fancy, and upscale – but what you're basically saying when you call something or someone classy is “upper-class.” By calling a place or someone's behavior unclassy is essentially equating them with the lower class, implying that the lifestyle of people within that demographic is inferior.
Gay/Fag: Do I really need to explain why using someone's identity derogatorily is problematic? In case you are genuinely confused as to why it's not ok to say “that's so gay” think about the ways in which assigning a negative connotation to someone's selfhood could be corrosive. Whether you're homophobic or not, whether you intend for your words to hurt gay people or not, you are abusing the power of words by oppressing a group of people every time you say it, and there is not a single human being on this planet who has the inherent right to act as an oppressor.
Ghetto: A ghetto is generally an area occupied by low-income, segregated and/or minority groups and to say that's so ghetto is to say “that's so poor/that action of yours was similar to an action of a poor person.” The word is used with very racist or classist connotations and insinuates that all people from a certain demographic, like all black people or all low-income people behave one way, and that way should be ridiculed. Like the word “classy,” the word “ghetto” lends itself to profiling.
Lame & Retarded: The word lame describes someone with physical disabilities/handicaps and the word retarded describes someone with mental disabilities/handicaps. These word are ableist, which means they're discriminatory in favor of able bodied people. Like many of the aforementioned words, both lame and retarded target people who are seen to be outside of “the human default” and their use implies that lame and retarded people are lesser than the rest of us due to an aspect of who they are.
Pussy: When you call other people pussies, you're equating their behavior with a woman's body and therefore womanhood itself. Pussy is used to mean cowardly and insulting someone by feminizing them is misogynistic. Feminine traits and femininity do not indicate weakness or inferiority, but the word pussy perpetuates a stereotype suggesting otherwise.
Slut/Skank/Whore: The way in which a woman chooses to use, portray, adorn, cover, expose, maintain, or treat her body is her choice. With whom she has sex, how often she has sex, and how she has sex is her choice. The way she dresses and the clothing she chooses to wear or not wear is her choice. The only person who has jurisdiction over her body is the woman herself and you have absolutely no authority to put her down for it by calling her a slut, skank, or whore.
White Trash: This phrase is both racist and classist. People are usually referred to as white trash because of their socioeconomic status or because the way they behave is “un-white” (which, of course, translates to “some other inferior race”). This also stratifies white people by those who are trash and those who are not which is basically a way to justify discrimination against all underprivileged people.
My Sassy, Non-Academic, Far From Politically Correct, Mostly Feelings Analysis of Phrases I've Overheard
“First world problems:” Hey guess what. I hear that some people in third world countries actually have technology..I know right? And food and shopping centers and experiences that are...wait for it...similar to ours. Yeah, shocker right? I totally thought we were the best and most advanced country whole world and the rest of them live like Neanderthals.
"I'm channeling my inner black woman”: No, actually you're just being racist and suggesting that all black women behave a certain way. Do you ever “channel” them when you're about to take a test? How about at a job interview? No, no you only channel them when you're abusing ebonics and/or a specific style of speaking, when you're being rude and loud, or when you're about to put someone down. Black women are not yours to channel so sit down.
“I've always wanted a gay best friend”: OMG me too! Because all gay boys love to shop! Because being gay always means being effeminate! Because we can gab about all the hot boys who walk down the street because gay people are just really sexual and want to talk about sex/hot men all the time! Ugh now how do I obtain one??
“[Insert racial minority group here] girls are so hot”: Newsflash, people. We are not all objects to be categorized into one large group and eroticized for our “exoticness.” We were not created specifically to make your sexual dreams come true with our “non-western ways,” we are not all oppressed and looking for some sort of sexual scenario where we're the escapee and you're the savior. But we're also not looking for you to prove how not-racist you are by making it a point to be obsessed with us. We do not need allegedly post-racist support.
“Ladies and Gentlemen”: Some people are ladies and some people are gentlemen, some people are neither ladies nor gentleman, some people are both ladies and gentleman. THE GENDER BINARY IS A LIE. If a crowd is being addressed as “ladies and gentleman,” people who are transgender, genderqueer, bigender, third gender, androgynous, gender neutral, genderless, or gender non-conforming and don't identity strictly as a “lady” or a “gentleman” should be excused from having to listen to the bullshit that follows. (Also, in case you're wondering, someone's gender identity has nothing to do with their sexual identity. Come over if you're interested in getting me started).
“She's such a bro”: Thanks for accepting me into the Bro Society (BS) by insinuating that I'm one of you because I have male characteristics! I really appreciate the fact that I'm better than other girls because something about me is less feminine, including the fact that I'm down with all the bro things you do. All normal girls are only into makeup and gossip and fashion and since I'm not I must be a male!
“She's still exercising at her age!”: People older than you are people too. People older than you have sex, do drugs, listen to rock n' roll, know what the internet is, have ambition, fall in and out of love, and don't all turn into vegetables. Just because they're not included in public discourse doesn't mean they're not there.
“No Homo”: Because you're not confident enough in your own sexuality to be able to express your feelings to someone with the same gender identity without prefacing it with a phrase to let them know you're not hitting on them. SMH.
And those, folks, are two very brief lists of the words and phrases you've (probably) been using that are androcentric, homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, ableist, ageist, classist, and generally problematic.
My Semi-formal, Slightly Academic Analysis of Problematic Words and Their Implications
Classy: Colloquially, the word classy is use to describe something sophisticated, fancy, and upscale – but what you're basically saying when you call something or someone classy is “upper-class.” By calling a place or someone's behavior unclassy is essentially equating them with the lower class, implying that the lifestyle of people within that demographic is inferior.
Gay/Fag: Do I really need to explain why using someone's identity derogatorily is problematic? In case you are genuinely confused as to why it's not ok to say “that's so gay” think about the ways in which assigning a negative connotation to someone's selfhood could be corrosive. Whether you're homophobic or not, whether you intend for your words to hurt gay people or not, you are abusing the power of words by oppressing a group of people every time you say it, and there is not a single human being on this planet who has the inherent right to act as an oppressor.
Ghetto: A ghetto is generally an area occupied by low-income, segregated and/or minority groups and to say that's so ghetto is to say “that's so poor/that action of yours was similar to an action of a poor person.” The word is used with very racist or classist connotations and insinuates that all people from a certain demographic, like all black people or all low-income people behave one way, and that way should be ridiculed. Like the word “classy,” the word “ghetto” lends itself to profiling.
Lame & Retarded: The word lame describes someone with physical disabilities/handicaps and the word retarded describes someone with mental disabilities/handicaps. These word are ableist, which means they're discriminatory in favor of able bodied people. Like many of the aforementioned words, both lame and retarded target people who are seen to be outside of “the human default” and their use implies that lame and retarded people are lesser than the rest of us due to an aspect of who they are.
Pussy: When you call other people pussies, you're equating their behavior with a woman's body and therefore womanhood itself. Pussy is used to mean cowardly and insulting someone by feminizing them is misogynistic. Feminine traits and femininity do not indicate weakness or inferiority, but the word pussy perpetuates a stereotype suggesting otherwise.
Slut/Skank/Whore: The way in which a woman chooses to use, portray, adorn, cover, expose, maintain, or treat her body is her choice. With whom she has sex, how often she has sex, and how she has sex is her choice. The way she dresses and the clothing she chooses to wear or not wear is her choice. The only person who has jurisdiction over her body is the woman herself and you have absolutely no authority to put her down for it by calling her a slut, skank, or whore.
White Trash: This phrase is both racist and classist. People are usually referred to as white trash because of their socioeconomic status or because the way they behave is “un-white” (which, of course, translates to “some other inferior race”). This also stratifies white people by those who are trash and those who are not which is basically a way to justify discrimination against all underprivileged people.
My Sassy, Non-Academic, Far From Politically Correct, Mostly Feelings Analysis of Phrases I've Overheard
“First world problems:” Hey guess what. I hear that some people in third world countries actually have technology..I know right? And food and shopping centers and experiences that are...wait for it...similar to ours. Yeah, shocker right? I totally thought we were the best and most advanced country whole world and the rest of them live like Neanderthals.
"I'm channeling my inner black woman”: No, actually you're just being racist and suggesting that all black women behave a certain way. Do you ever “channel” them when you're about to take a test? How about at a job interview? No, no you only channel them when you're abusing ebonics and/or a specific style of speaking, when you're being rude and loud, or when you're about to put someone down. Black women are not yours to channel so sit down.
“I've always wanted a gay best friend”: OMG me too! Because all gay boys love to shop! Because being gay always means being effeminate! Because we can gab about all the hot boys who walk down the street because gay people are just really sexual and want to talk about sex/hot men all the time! Ugh now how do I obtain one??
“[Insert racial minority group here] girls are so hot”: Newsflash, people. We are not all objects to be categorized into one large group and eroticized for our “exoticness.” We were not created specifically to make your sexual dreams come true with our “non-western ways,” we are not all oppressed and looking for some sort of sexual scenario where we're the escapee and you're the savior. But we're also not looking for you to prove how not-racist you are by making it a point to be obsessed with us. We do not need allegedly post-racist support.
“Ladies and Gentlemen”: Some people are ladies and some people are gentlemen, some people are neither ladies nor gentleman, some people are both ladies and gentleman. THE GENDER BINARY IS A LIE. If a crowd is being addressed as “ladies and gentleman,” people who are transgender, genderqueer, bigender, third gender, androgynous, gender neutral, genderless, or gender non-conforming and don't identity strictly as a “lady” or a “gentleman” should be excused from having to listen to the bullshit that follows. (Also, in case you're wondering, someone's gender identity has nothing to do with their sexual identity. Come over if you're interested in getting me started).
“She's such a bro”: Thanks for accepting me into the Bro Society (BS) by insinuating that I'm one of you because I have male characteristics! I really appreciate the fact that I'm better than other girls because something about me is less feminine, including the fact that I'm down with all the bro things you do. All normal girls are only into makeup and gossip and fashion and since I'm not I must be a male!
“She's still exercising at her age!”: People older than you are people too. People older than you have sex, do drugs, listen to rock n' roll, know what the internet is, have ambition, fall in and out of love, and don't all turn into vegetables. Just because they're not included in public discourse doesn't mean they're not there.
“No Homo”: Because you're not confident enough in your own sexuality to be able to express your feelings to someone with the same gender identity without prefacing it with a phrase to let them know you're not hitting on them. SMH.
And those, folks, are two very brief lists of the words and phrases you've (probably) been using that are androcentric, homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist, ableist, ageist, classist, and generally problematic.