Context: Let's Talk About "->-bleeped-<-"
http://www.bilerico.com/2010/12/context_lets_talk_about_->-bleeped-<-.php (http://www.bilerico.com/2010/12/context_lets_talk_about_-%3E-bleeped-%3C-.php)
12/30/10
Context plays a big role, but as with any slur, the personal experience someone has as the target of the slur is a part of that context - and it makes a big difference. Part of why I say it would be fine to have had Stryker's film be titled "Screaming ->-bleeped-<-s" is because it's a documentary examining transphobia and trans people's activism created by a trans woman who's significantly connected to trans community and regularly challenges trans misogyny. The context makes sense. Whereas when Michelangelo Signorile, a cis gay man, goes on tv and tells everyone that ->-bleeped-<- isn't a slur and he knows 'cause he's a big homo, and "has some friends" who use the term (why didn't they invite those friends on the show?) the context is pretty clearly insulting.