Welcome to Gaia! ::

Yes- because neurolinguistics has shown that linking negative associations with language can shape how we experience the subject. If Pavlov can train a dog to drool at the sound of a bell, then words can insight feelings of fear, loathing, hatred and disgust by using them to mean "bad".

Not gonna lie: I'm guilty of it. Most of the US Military is. Even the gay guys. For us, it has a completely different meaning. Contrary to popular belief, most soldiers on the line don't care about a guy's sexual orientation, so long as he is a good soldier. To us, there are two meanings of the word "gay."

1. Adjective: Used to describe how bullshit something is. Used in a negative sense. Used by both straight and gay soldiers.

2. Adjective: Sexual orientation of a male soldier. Used in a mostly positive sense. Used by all.

Most people that use it are not using it in any way that they deem offensive. Especially if the gay soldiers use it too.

Omg, tell me about it! It's so annoying. They say it like it has a negative association with it. Another one that bugs me is "retarded." But that's a totally different discussion. You shouldn't associate stupidity and a certain type of person or lifestyle as synonyms.

I have to agree with her.

Words have meaning because we give them meaning.

when i was growing up the word 'Retarded' was often used the way 'Gay' is used today. I became desensitized to the use of retarded so in many cases it does not bother me, such as when retarded is used to in place of the words like stupid, dumb or lame.

However when the meaning of the word changes my reaction to it also changes. If someone would use 'Retarded" to describe an individual with a mental handicap, this to me is completely offensive. My mother, on the other hand, finds any use of the word 'retarded' offensive and rightly so as my younger brother has Autism. We react differently to the same word because we apply different meanings to that word.

"Gay" is the same thing in my perspective. its a word, and we as individuals give meaning to that word. the meaning I give to it might not be the same as someone else.

as long as the person using the word is not using it in an offensive way then i dont have a problem with it. using Gay in place of stupid or lame isnt a big deal to me as long as it is meant in the spirit of joking around with your friends or to describe a fanny pack razz

Personally, I think the whole "Thats so Gay" campaign is a big waist off time. People wont stop using the word "gay" just because some people find it offensive. if anything its just going to make the people who ARE using the word in an offensive way use it even more because they know it pisses those people off...

Besides, I say we got about 10-15 years left before 'Gay' gets replaced by some other word in the same way Gay replaced Retarded. so why bother stressing over it when it will just go away on its own.

The word "gay" should not be used a a substitute for "stupid" or "lame" Also the word "retard" should not be used. When ever someone uses that around my friends and I. Say I said something stupid like I usaully do and someone told me "Your so gay." Then I would just reply jokingly "Thank you." or "Your so straight." To come off that it doesn't bother or make my homosexual friends feel bad

What makes something an exception that proves the rule and what makes something ok? Like- there's a petition about how the Roma here on Gaia are opposed to seeing their racial slur on Gaia as an item- even though Gaia would never call something by a slur like ****** or s**c.

And in cases where neurolinguistic programming is a factor- how do you undo the harm that desensitization causes?