ABSTRACT
Groups who occupy a subordinate or oppressed position in society invariably suffer from linguistic disparagement. Homosexuality is regarded as deviant behaviour, and is often referred to in abusive terms (like bent and queer), just as women and Black people find themselves at the receiving end of a rich vocabulary range, at best patronising, at worst offensive. Sometimes these words are wielded innocently, in that some people are genuinely unaware of their pejorative meaning; but more often than not they are used as conscious symbols of an attitude. And, just as politically-conscious Black people have struggled to promote words like Black at the expense of nigger or coon, so gay has become instrumental in the cause of homosexual equality; moreover, people who support such causes are expected to use these terms, since the use of the traditional terms is an index of a social stance. Thus, on a range of sensitive social and political issues we have to choose our vocabulary with care, and cultivate a conscious, highly self-critical attitude to the issue of words and meanings.
