I mentioned in my first post that I love music; this is true. I pride myself on listening to a wide variety of music, so I'll probably be referencing that a lot throughout this blog. Recently I've been listening to a lot of rap music, and I've noticed that rap lyrics are often more colorful than other genres. And our everyday speech, for that matter. The word "nigger," for example, pops up all the time in rap songs, which seems a little strange given its history as a word used to propagate racial discrimination, and the fact that the rap/hip-hop community is largely black. Maybe rappers have an excuse because they use offensive language in an artistic way; whenever I casually drop "nigger" in conversation I can almost always count on receiving a dirty look, or at the very least some hesitancy. The same goes for words like "faggot" or "bitch," whether or not I use them in their historically offensive ways, I always get somewhat of a cold response.
So should I eliminate words like these from my vernacular? Well, they were at one point (if they aren't still today) used to promote racism, sexism, or some other form of discrimination, giving them an inherently negative and disrespectful connotation. On the other hand, many words like this have been embraced as terms of endearment now, and when they're used in conversation or as song lyrics, they're used for a reason; although sometimes they might be hurtful or shock-inducing, that's kind of the point.
A Tribe Called Quest, a rap group from the '90s known for their socially and racially conscious lyricism, offered an interestingly progressive opinion on the use of "nigger," on a song off of one of their platinum selling albums, appropriately titled "Sucka Nigga." Rapper Q-Tip tells us, "It means that we will never grow, you know the word dummy. Other niggas in the community think it's crummy. But I don't, neither does the youth cause we em-Brace adversity it goes right with the race. And being that we use it as a term of endearment. Niggas start to bug, to the dome is where the fear went. Now the little shorties say it all of the time."
Obviously the word can be flipped into something positive, even among a demographic of people that were at one point subjected to its negativity. It's still a word condemned by many as largely disrespectful, including the NAACP. Used in the right context though, what is barring these words from being deemed okay? Another, more contemporary rapper, Tyler, The Creator weighed in with his views on the context of language after being accused of penning potentially homophobic lyrics, "I just think f*ggot hits and hurts people. It hits. And, gay just means stupid. I don't know, we don't think about it, we're just kids. We don't think about that shit. But, I don't hate gay people. I don't want anyone to think I'm homophobic."
So, is language that might be offensive to some people off limits? Absolutely not. The onus of being offended falls on the audience, the speaker's only job is to convey their message as accurately as possible. Is it possible that you'll be offending someone being not thinking twice before throwing out a "nigger" or "faggot" or "bitch" in your conversation? Yes, but that may very well be because you're trying to be offensive, making it all the more appropriate. The number one priority is for a speaker to make their message clear and intended. Considering the array of meanings these words have accumulated in 21st century conversation, and their expressive, colorful nature, there should be no reason why we can't accept their places in our vernacular.
I think your last paragraph raises the key point here; this offensive language is acceptable if the goal is to be offensive. In that case, yes, I would agree that the offensive language is appropriate, because it does get across the meaning that the artist wishes to get across. However, if it doesn't really serve much purpose, then I would personally consider those words inappropriate. I'm reminded of a certain English teacher's guidelines on breaking the rules of grammar: it's only okay if there's a reason.
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that you raised this issue, because it is something that we all have a stance on but are too uncomfortable to share. Personally, although I am not one to be politically correct all the time, I never use the words "nigger," "faggot" or "retard." Retard is the only word in the group that I will never tolerate using, because people who are mentally or physically disabled often do not have the capacity to stick up for themselves when faced with bigotry. In terms of the word nigger, it is difficult to know if it is acceptable because there is no black consensus on the word. However, the only context in which I would ever use it is if I was singing along to a song that used it, in which case I could not possibly be considered racist for saying it. To me, faggot has a totally different meaning than a gay person. A gay person is someone whose sexual orientation is for their own gender. A faggot is someone who acts in a way that is such an obnoxious stereotype of the way people believe that gays behave that the person really looks silly more than anything else. In short, I don't think that we can establish one rule for all offensive words and in what contexts they may be used. It varies based on the word, the audience, and a host of other factors.
ReplyDeleteJack,
ReplyDeleteI would align myself with one of the perspectives you presented about offensive words only being offense in the context they are used. Personally, it is never a word by itself that I am offended by; it is always the intentions of the person behind the word. I am able to listen to hip hop songs that frequently employ the word "bitch" without getting offended. Even if the lyrics themselves are derogatory to women, I always try to examine the larger context of the song itself. Respecting women is not exactly a core value of hip hop culture, and therefore a lot of musicians feel the need to use words like bitch just to fit in with that culture. Tyler The Creator is a great example of an artist who does not really have any negative feelings towards certain groups but still uses terms that are derogatory towards those groups in his music. Bottom line, if the malicious intent is not backing up the word, the word almost never offends me.
That being said, I acknowledge that much of the population does feel strongly about these words, and that if necessary, the best way to go about using them is to strategically utilize their offensive potential to invoke emotions in the audience.
Jack,
ReplyDeleteIs language that might be offensive to some off limits? I think censorship of language is much worse. That said, if there is in fact a message or teaching point that can be conveyed with the use of profanity or offensive language, I agree that there is most definitely a time and place for it.
If, however, such words are being used in a gratuitous fashion due to laziness or intentional disregard for others, it suggests to me a lack of wisdom. After all, most of us do in fact have a choice of how we express ourselves.... yes?