Terminology of homosexuality

Terms used to describe

Numerous slang terms exist for homosexuals or homosexuality. Some communities have cants, a rich jargon used among a subgroup almost like a secret language, such as Polari in the UK, and others.

Prescribed usage

The term homosexual can be used as an adjective to describe the sexual attractions and behaviors of people attracted to the same sex. Author and gay pioneer Quentin Crisp said that the term should be "homosexualist", adding that no one says "I am a sexual."^[2] Some gay people argue that the use of homosexual as a noun is offensive, arguing that they are people first and their homosexuality being merely an attribute of their humanity. Even if they do not consider the term offensive, some people in same-gender relationships may object to being described as homosexual because they identify as bisexual+, or another orientation.^[3]

Some style guides recommend that the terms homosexual and homosexuality be avoided altogether, lest their use cause confusion or arouse controversy. In particular, the description of individuals as homosexual may be offensive, partially because of the negative clinical association of the word stemming from its use in describing same-gender attraction as a

Same-gender oriented people seldom apply such terms to themselves, and public officials and agencies often avoid them. For instance, the Safe Schools Coalition of Washington's Glossary for School Employees advises that gay is the "preferred synonym for homosexual",[6] and goes on to suggest avoiding the term homosexual as it is "clinical, distancing, and archaic".

However, the terms homosexual and homosexuality are sometimes deemed appropriate in referring to behavior (although same-gender is the preferred adjective). Using homosexuality or homosexual to refer to behavior may be inaccurate but does not carry the same potentially offensive connotations that using homosexual to describe a person does. When referring to people, homosexual is considered derogatory and the terms gay and lesbian are preferred. Some have argued that homosexual places emphasis on sexuality over humanity, and is to be avoided when describing a person. Gay man or lesbian are the preferred nouns for referring to people, which stress cultural and social matters over sex.^[6]

The New Oxford American Dictionary^[7] says that gay is the preferred term.

People with a same-gender sexual orientation generally prefer the terms gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The most common terms are gay (both men and women) and lesbian (women only). Other terms include same gender loving and same-sex-oriented.^[4]

Among some sectors of gay sub-culture, same-gender sexual behavior is sometimes viewed as solely for physical pleasure instead of romantic. Men on the down-low (or DL) may engage in covert sexual activity with other men while pursuing sexual and romantic relationships with women.

History

The choice of terms regarding sexual orientation may imply a certain political outlook, and different terms have been preferred at different times and in different places.

Early history

Historian and philosopher Michel Foucault argued that homosexual and heterosexual identities did not emerge until the 19th century. Prior to that time, he said, the terms described practices and not identity. Foucault cited Karl Westphal's famous 1870 article Contrary Sexual Feeling as the "date of birth" of the categorization of sexual orientation.^[8] Some scholars, however, have argued that there are significant continuities between past and present conceptualizations of sexuality, with various terms having been used for homosexuality.^[9][10]

In his Symposium, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato described (through the character of the profane comedian Aristophanes) three sexual orientations – heterosexuality, male homosexuality, and female homosexuality – and provided explanations for their existence using an invented creation myth.^[11]

Tribadism

Although this term refers to a specific

The tribas, lesbian, from Greek tribein, to rub (i.e. rubbing the

pudenda together, or clitoris upon pubic bone, etc.), appears in Greek and Latin satires from the late first century. The tribade was the most common (vulgar) lesbian in European texts for many centuries. 'Tribade' occurs in English texts from at least as early as 1601 to at least as late as the mid-nineteenth century before it became self-consciously old-fashioned—it was in current use for nearly three centuries.^[12]

Fricatrice, a synonym for tribade that also refers to rubbing but has a Latin rather than a Greek root, appeared in English as early as 1605 (in Ben Jonson's Volpone). Its usage suggests that it was more colloquial and more pejorative than tribade. Variants include the Latinized confricatrice and English rubster.^[13]

Sodomy

Though sodomy has been used to refer to a range of homosexual and heterosexual "

Lesbianism

Lesbian writer

Today, pederasty refers to male attraction towards adolescent boys,^[25] or the cultural institutions that support such relations, as in ancient Greece.^[26] However, in the 18th and 19th centuries, the word usually referred to male homosexuality in general.^{[citation needed]} A pederast was also the active partner in anal sex, whether with a male or a female partner.^{[citation needed]} This relationship is socially frowned upon in modern cultures while legally defined by the age of consent.

Homosexual

The word homosexual translates literally as "of the same sex", being a hybrid of the Greek prefix homo- meaning 'same' (as distinguished from the Latin root homo meaning 'human') and the Latin root sex meaning 'sex'.

The first known public appearance of the term homosexual in print is found in an 1869 German pamphlet 143 des Preussischen Strafgesetzbuchs und seine Aufrechterhaltung als 152 des Entwurfs eines Strafgesetzbuchs für den Norddeutschen Bund ("Paragraph 143 of the

Not all terms have been used to describe same-gender sexuality are synonyms for the modern term homosexuality. Anna Rüling,^[45] one of the first women to publicly defend gay rights, considered gay people a third gender, different from both men and women. Terms such as gynephilia and androphilia have tried to simplify the language of sexual orientation by making no claim about the individual's own gender identity. However, they are not commonly used.

Side

Side^[46] describes someone who does not practice anal sex and therefore does not define himself as top, bottom or versatile.

This term is sometimes used in American literature^[47] to present an alternative to the binary classification which notes the preferred sexual position, such as top or bottom; the term side indicates one's affinity for neither of this binary classification.^[48]

Jargon and slang

Cants

There are established languages of slang (sometimes known as cants) such as Polari in Britain, Swardspeak in the Philippines, Bahasa Binan in Indonesia, Lubunca in Turkey, and Kaliardá (Καλιαρντά) in Greece.^{[citation needed]}

Slang

A variety of LGBT slang terms have been used historically and contemporarily within the LGBT community.

In addition to the stigma surrounding homosexuality, terms have been influenced by taboos around sex in general, producing a number of euphemisms. A gay person may be described as "that way", "a bit funny", "on the bus", "batting for the other team", "a friend of Dorothy", "wearing comfortable shoes" (for women), although such euphemisms are becoming less common as homosexuality becomes more visible.^{[citation needed]}

Harry Hay frequently stated that, in the 1930s–1940s, gay people referred to themselves as temperamental.^[49]

Gay

Although the word was originally synonymous with happy or cheerful, in the 20th century it gradually came to designate someone who is romantically or sexually attracted to someone of the same

References

• Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry (2007). The concise new Partridge dictionary of slang and unconventional English. Routledge.
  ISBN 978-0-415-21259-5
  .
• Dalzell, Tom (2008). The Routledge dictionary of modern American slang and unconventional English. Taylor & Francis.
  ISBN 978-0-415-37182-7
  .
• Dynes, Wayne R.; Johansson, Warren; Percy, William A.; Donaldson, Stephen (1990). Encyclopedia of homosexuality, Volume 1. Garland Pub.
  ISBN 978-0-8240-6544-7
  .
• Green, Jonathon (2005). Cassell's dictionary of slang (2 ed.). Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
  ISBN 978-0-304-36636-1
  .
• Marks, Georgette A.; Johnson, Charles Benjamin; Pratt, Jane (1984). Harrap's Slang dictionary: English-French/French-English. Harrap.
  ISBN 978-0-245-54047-9
  .
• Partridge, Eric; Dalzell, Tom; Victor, Terry (2006). The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: J-Z (reprint ed.). Taylor & Francis.
  ISBN 978-0-415-25938-5
  .
• Schemann, Hans; Knight, Paul (1995). German-English dictionary of idioms. Routledge.
  ISBN 978-0-415-14199-4
  .

External links

Look up gay#Etymology_1, androphilia, gynephilia, homophile, homosexual, pederast, sapphism, lesbian, sodomite, or tribadism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Look up heterosexual, gay, lesbian, or bisexual in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Terminology of homosexuality at
  Curlie
• "Gay Language Guide" – gay slang in various languages: French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Hungarian, Russian, Thai
• "The Homophobic Alphabet Euphemism Collection" Archived 2010-01-31 at the Wayback Machine: an ongoing collection of euphemisms for gay men and lesbians.
• Homosexual Terms in 18th-century Dictionaries – catamite, madge, indorser, windward passage, and more