I didn't know Sissy was an slur against gay people - Off-Topic

#1 Posted by joshmightbe (19476 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

Seriously I just thought it was a kid friendly way of calling a cowardly guy a p**sy. I was completely unaware that it had anything to do with being gay until it was recently pointed out to me. Am I the only one who didn't know this? Also does it count as homophobic if you didn't know it was a gay slur?

#2 Posted by King Saturn (211146 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

I know some people consider it a Gay Slur... I just think that is too much sensitivity... Sissy has always meant Wimp to me.

#3 Posted by _Black (2167 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

How is that a slur against gay people?

#4 Posted by YoungJustice (5674 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

It's the equivalent of calling someone gay.

So the real question is

" If you called someone gay, is it homophobic? "

#5 Posted by Samimista (12170 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

@joshmightbe said:

Seriously I just thought it was a kid friendly way of calling a cowardly guy a p**sy. I was completely unaware that it had anything to do with being gay until it was recently pointed out to me. Am I the only one who didn't know this? Also does it count as homophobic if you didn't know it was a gay slur?

I actually thought this too for years. Where on Earth did you find this news on sissy being a slur against gay people? 0_o

#6 Posted by redbird3rdboywonder (3303 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

@King Saturn said:

I know some people consider it a Gay Slur... I just think that is too much sensitivity... Sissy has always meant Wimp to me.

This

#7 Posted by joshmightbe (19476 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

@YoungJustice: I didn't know it was calling someone gay tho, I thought it was calling them weak, as far as I knew it had nothing to do with being gay.

@Samimista: I had no idea until someone yelled at me about saying it.

#8 Posted by Samimista (12170 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

@joshmightbe: Heh, this is news to me. =S I thought it was exactly what you thought about calling someone weak.

#9 Posted by mikethekiller (7029 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

This is news to me.

#10 Posted by SC (9855 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

Sissy is commonly used or thought to be used as a stand in for effeminate. Guess what else is associated with being effeminate? Hence. Really though its mainly about intent. Well ideally, since communication, is often meant to be about efficiency and effectiveness. Being on the same page as each other and everyone. If you don't know and even if you do know but aren't homophobic, then I wouldn't say its homophobic.

Myself I don't really use such words, since they just seem empty. Guy with female qualities I call a guy with female qualities. A gay guy I call a gay guy. So on. Sissy supposedly means either effeminate or cowardly so its sort of a sucky word. Unless one things that those two concepts are similar which I don't think they are.

#11 Posted by pooty (7798 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

@YoungJustice said:

It's the equivalent of calling someone gay.
So the real question is
" If you called someone gay, is it homophobic? "

It's not the same. It's a negative slur. It's like calling a mexican "wetback" or a black person the n-word. or an asian "Slanty eyes". it's never a compliment

@Samimista: @mikethekiller: it originally meant "girly man" or "weak" then it became a gay slur

#12 Posted by joshmightbe (19476 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

@SC: When I was a kid we used to call each other sissies all the time when we were talking each other into doing stupid stuff. It was never intended to say the other guy was gay, it was to us just like calling a guy a wuss or chicken. There was never any gay connotation to it. Until about 2 hours ago it never even crossed my mind that it was a gay thing.

#13 Posted by Samimista (12170 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

@pooty: Ah! I didn't know it became a gay slur. Interesting.

#14 Posted by joshmightbe (19476 posts) - 8 months, 1 day ago - Show Bio

@Samimista: So basically I was retroactively declared a bigot? Can we do that now?

#15 Posted by SC (9855 posts) - 8 months, 23 hours ago - Show Bio

@joshmightbe: Exactly, its all pretty much subjective stuff. Its one of those words where culture and country and age group all change the context of the word.

#16 Posted by joshmightbe (19476 posts) - 8 months, 23 hours ago - Show Bio

@SC: Is it really fair to say someone is doing something wrong if they had no idea it was wrong tho?

#17 Posted by Samimista (12170 posts) - 8 months, 23 hours ago - Show Bio

@joshmightbe: I'll still probably use the word sissy as I did before but referring to being weak. Whoever yelled at you didn't have the right to do so in my opinion.

#18 Posted by umbrafeline (4934 posts) - 8 months, 23 hours ago - Show Bio

calling someone a 'sissy' can be derogative or flattering, depending on the person you say it to. so to be on the safe side, just call them a 'dumba--' :-)

#19 Posted by GodOfMischief (549 posts) - 8 months, 23 hours ago - Show Bio

I had no idea it was a slur to gay people, I've always seen it as another word for calling someone a coward.

#20 Posted by NlGHTCRAWLER (2567 posts) - 8 months, 22 hours ago - Show Bio

Screw that! I call my little cousins sissy all the time and not once do I mean it in that way. If someone were to yell at me for calling them that I would flick their nose or something equally annoying because 'I do what I want'

#21 Posted by ComicMan24 (146835 posts) - 8 months, 22 hours ago - Show Bio

@King Saturn said:

I know some people consider it a Gay Slur... I just think that is too much sensitivity... Sissy has always meant Wimp to me.

Thought that too.

#22 Posted by Razero (335 posts) - 8 months, 22 hours ago - Show Bio

It's incredibly easy to offend people nowadays.

#23 Posted by superstay (4970 posts) - 8 months, 20 hours ago - Show Bio

@joshmightbe:

Too much sensitivity and I thought it was another way of saying flamboyant.

dú¡ùb

#24 Posted by DarkKnightDetective (6722 posts) - 8 months, 20 hours ago - Show Bio

wow really, people are that stupid now days, first off sissy is eqivalent to a cat or a vagina, second, it has always been used as a insult to cowards.

#25 Posted by Dracade102 (8175 posts) - 8 months, 20 hours ago - Show Bio

If gay people are "sissies", then why do homophobic people need to think of themselves as manlier than they are?

#26 Posted by thethistle (3 posts) - 8 months, 20 hours ago - Show Bio

It's in the context that it matters. Obviously the person who yelled at you isn't comfortable in his skin. You should pity him.

#27 Posted by YourNeighborhoodComicGeek (13831 posts) - 8 months, 19 hours ago - Show Bio

What? A gay slur?

I always thought it meant a weak person/wimp.

#28 Posted by IZZR (3947 posts) - 8 months, 19 hours ago - Show Bio

I dont think homophobia exists. No one is afraid of homosexuals, i think its the opposite lol and always complaining about people being homophobic grow a backbone.

#29 Posted by Dernman (11361 posts) - 8 months, 19 hours ago - Show Bio

@King Saturn said:

I know some people consider it a Gay Slur... I just think that is too much sensitivity... Sissy has always meant Wimp to me.

Ya sissy meant wimp to me also. I heard some people thought is meant a gay slur but for me they are completely different things.

#30 Posted by White Mage (18691 posts) - 8 months, 18 hours ago - Show Bio

Like many words, this one strictly depends on how you meant it/who says it. It's not genuinely a gay slur. It insults a guy's manhood, but it's not a gay slur.

#31 Posted by InnerVenom123 (27550 posts) - 8 months, 18 hours ago - Show Bio

News to me.

Although I didn't realize anyone over the age of 12 used the word sissy anyway.

Oh well.

#32 Posted by danhimself (18743 posts) - 8 months, 18 hours ago - Show Bio

reminds me of the scene in Clerks 2 where Randall is shocked to find out that porch monkey is a racial slur

#33 Posted by _Zombie_ (9599 posts) - 8 months, 18 hours ago - Show Bio

@InnerVenom123 said:

News to me.
Although I didn't realize anyone over the age of 12 used the word sissy anyway.
Oh well.

Well, most homophobes have the average common sense and reasoning skills of a 12-year-old, so I suppose there's a connection to be had there.

#34 Posted by Gambit1024 (9878 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

Ah... I'm still going to use it as a synonym for wimp.

Haters gonna hate.

#35 Posted by _Zombie_ (9599 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

Wuss sounds better anyways.

#36 Posted by lykopis (6096 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

Complicated answer? Its used derogatorily in its application towards a male, inferring said male is effeminate which some may consider to mean weak and meek.

Answer according to my experience? I don't remember hearing that term growing up because most kids used the lovely nickname applied to female genitalia. It might even be considered a "polite" way of calling out someone who lacks courage.

Having said that, it is a term sometimes used to insult members of the gay community, but I just spoke with a friend of mine and he told me he uses the term for other gays. So -- to each their own. If you didn't use it to mean "gay" in an insulting manner, then that person needs to calm down a tad. HOWEVER --- its not the best way to describe someone who is weak or cowardly because being feminine is neither.

:)

Online

#37 Posted by TheGoldenOne (38596 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@King Saturn said:

Sissy has always meant Wimp to me.

#38 Posted by joshmightbe (19476 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@InnerVenom123: I just said it jokingly to friend of mine while we were talking about back when we were little kids. All I said was that my friend was always the sissy back then and someone who over heard me say this flipped out like I was gay bashing him or something. I didn't even mean it as an actual insult at the moment I said it.

#39 Posted by joshmightbe (19476 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@lykopis: Today was probably the first time I used the term since I was 10

#40 Posted by Avenging-X-Bolt (8883 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

Yeah, Ive known that it can be used that way.

#41 Posted by lykopis (6096 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@joshmightbe said:

@lykopis: Today was probably the first time I used the term since I was 10

lol -- exactly. Honestly though, I would have told that person with a straight face that there is nothing wrong with your friend being gay. Just turn the tables in an unexpected and ridiculous way. (I know --- easy to say now.)

Online

#42 Posted by InnerVenom123 (27550 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@ZombieBigfoot: I dunno. Sissy is a word that makes YOU sound gay when you say it.

#43 Posted by White Mage (18691 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@InnerVenom123 said:

@ZombieBigfoot: I dunno. Sissy is a word that makes YOU sound gay when you say it.

..................................I've NEVER thought of it that way before................THANKS Venom..................the Vine has officially taken the place of Sesame Street........I'ma learnin things here

#44 Posted by JediXMan (22932 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@joshmightbe said:

Seriously I just thought it was a kid friendly way of calling a cowardly guy a p**sy.

That... yeah, that's how I always took the term. I never thought it was meant to be a gay slur.

#45 Posted by lykopis (6096 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@InnerVenom123 said:

@ZombieBigfoot: I dunno. Sissy is a word that makes YOU sound gay when you say it.

Words fail. Because this is just about the most profound thing I read all day.

Online

#46 Posted by Vance Astro (88672 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

What forum is this? WTF has been going on for the last couple of weeks?

Moderator

#47 Posted by White Mage (18691 posts) - 8 months, 17 hours ago - Show Bio

@JediXMan said:

@joshmightbe said:
Seriously I just thought it was a kid friendly way of calling a cowardly guy a p**sy.
That... yeah, that's how I always took the term. I never thought it was meant to be a gay slur.

And that's why I said Comicvine has taken the place of Sesame Street

I've never heard of it being a gay slur.................because there's a difference between insulting gay people, and using gay slurs against gay people.

#48 Posted by joshmightbe (19476 posts) - 8 months, 16 hours ago - Show Bio

@JediXMan: I'm just glad I'm not alone in this. I just thought it was something little kids called each other when adults were around so they didn't get in trouble for calling each other p**sies

#49 Posted by White Mage (18691 posts) - 8 months, 16 hours ago - Show Bio

@Vance Astro said:

What forum is this? WTF has been going on for the last couple of weeks?

Your avatar................You belong in the 1986 age group, don't you?...............that's a thread as well btw.lol

#50 Posted by Samimista (12170 posts) - 8 months, 16 hours ago - Show Bio

@Vance Astro said:

What forum is this? WTF has been going on for the last couple of weeks?

Lol! You must feel like you're on a different planet or something. xD