“’Dude You’re a Fag’: Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag Discourse”: C.J.Pascoe
Pascoe presents her research on the definition of the word “fag”. She found it to be more of an insult to white males, rather than it being an identity. A faggot is masculinity without power. It is tossed around like and insult and used as a “disciplinary mechanism”. This is because homophobic teasing is presented as a characteristic of being masculine. Not doing “activities appropriate for one’s sex category” can be called/named a fag or faggot. Such as doing feminine actions, or not doing masculine actions. However this only happens when it comes to white boys. For example, if a white boy dances, he is in risk of being called a fag or faggot. Whereas if an African American boy dances, he is in no risk because he is part of a “cultural community”. Sometimes the word “fag” and “faggot” are used as jokes alongside being used as insults. Although the word’s dominance doesn’t seem present, it should be clear that the use of the words “fag” and “faggot” should be decreased, even if they’re used as insults.
