The F-Slur

Please read before proceeding: This article is to be used in an educational sense. My opinion is present, but the goal for this article is to present the information as it is so that the reader can formulate their own opinion regarding who can use the slur researched below. I will not be using the full f-slur in this article and instead it will be censored)

The Origins

Like for most slurs, the true origins of f*ggot are unknown, but there are many theories. One such theory was that it is a derivation from the 16th century era word used against older women to insult them. The next one I am about to discuss may be hard to follow, so please read closely. A long time ago in London, a bundle of sticks was referred to as “f*ggot”. Even a painting by George Chinnery, a British artist in the late 1700s to early 1800s, was labeled “A Man Carrying F*ggots”.

However, in old English boarding schools, younger boys were called f*gs because they used f*ggots (bundle of sticks) as brooms to perform menial domestic chores for older boys, the act of which is called f*gging. But more importantly, “f*gging” was the practice where younger boys performed special “duties” for older boys, mostly in a sexual context.

Then the word would make an appearance in a book, solidifying its definition into one that targets those who identify as homosexual. In American sociologist Nels Anderson’s 1923 The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man, he writes:

"Fairies or F*gs are men or boys who exploit sex for profit.”

Nine years before that in 1914, an author named Louis E. Jackson published a 102-page book called "A Vocabulary of Criminal Slang, With Some Examples of Common Usages." The book was almost a dictionary of sorts to define common words used by less than savory individuals in American culture. Under the entry for “drag”, it was written that “All the f*ggots (sissies) will be dressed in drag at the ball tonight."

The f-slur was used in a negative manner to shed light on a man’s own personal life and their sexual ventures. But not only to shed light, but to evoke shame. It emasculated men and eventually weaponised a word that once meant “bundle of sticks”.

Modern Usage

Much like how the n-word was reclaimed by the black community, the f-slur had its moment to no longer be used to degrade a male-presenting individual as gay, soft-spoken, or one who doesn't fit the stereotypically (toxic) definition of masculinity and instead into a slightly more endearing and positive tone. The LGBTQ+ community stripped the word of its horrible meaning and destigmatized it and reclaimed the word for themselves.

Before you go about your day, I would like you to leave with this in mind: even if you use the f-slur to describe “a bundle of sticks”, you are still saying the slur. Even if you don’t mean to use it in a negative context, society has altered the meaning of the word and is now used as an insult to dehumanize people. So if you say it, even if your intention is not to degrade the identities of those around you, once you say it, you are sending a message to everyone around you that using slurs that are meant to target a specific group of people is “okay”. It is not “okay”. The word itself has endangered the lives of many. Too many have died after they were called the f-slur merely because they presented themselves in a way that was too “feminine” for the heterosexual gaze.

Here are some more resources to better understand the f-slur and the consequences of its usage.

The Fa-Word: An Insulting Slur In the Spotlight by NPR News