WARNING: POTENTIALLY OFFENSIVE POST

You know, I don't usually comment on anything controversial or offensive. Some of my humor is a little abrasive sometimes, but for the most part I keep my mouth closed when it comes to subjects that are potentially volatile. I feel inclined to be different today, though, so we'll see how it works out.

I remember listening to a Chris Rock stand-up recording in which he announces, "I love black folks, but I hate niggers." At the time, I hadn't erally thought that a racial slur could be used to distinguish between sub-sections of the population. Nigger is a derogatory term for a black person, plain and simple. Right? Apparently not. So, I got started thinking about other slurs for which you could draw similar lines. I've been through a number of ideas in my head, but the only one that really seems to fit exactly with "nigger" is "fag." Spic, wop, raghead, sand nigger, cracker... I really can't think of sub-sections of the population to which to apply those without including the entire associated population (except for raghead, naturally, but it's a little different. It's more like a commentary on cultural and religious headgear than a racial slur. Kinda like jar-head). But what about things that aren't racially motivated? The only dividing issue that I can think of that's generated anywhere close to as much tension in people (though it's still several orders of magnitude less severe than race) is sexual orientation. Queer, homo, fag, queen... The list goes on, and none of them are complimentary. But out of all of them, "fag" just strikes me as the worst. It can be said with so much more venom in the voice, so much more contempt than any of the others... It's a shame, really. But not until the other day did I hear it used by anyone to distinguish a particular subset of the homosexual population. It was in reference to a friend of a friend, who happens to be a man so extravagantly effeminate and totally emasculated that he even makes me shiver (which is quite a trick, lemme tell you). The comment was "He's such a fucking fag. That's exactly what perpetuates the negative stereotype of gay people." At the time, I kinda wondered about the comment... After all, isn't it people's perceptions of the guy's behavior that perpetuate the negative stereotypes, rather than the behavior itself? It's only negative because we see it that way, right? That's neither here nor there now, though, because I've stopped worrying about it. My question is this... If "fag" means "a grotesquely effeminate male who epitomizes the antithesis of everything I've come to associate with masculinity without actually managing to be feminie," then what do the other slurs mean? Homo? Does it mean anything aside from "homosexual," but with a negative connotation? Queer? Queen? (I'm not sure, but I'm guessing "queen" is restricted to describing transvestites). Eh, I suppose it doesn't really matter, and I don't know why I felt inclined to comment on it. It's not even that interesting, come to think of it.