Yeah, to be fair I think that applies to nearly all gamers. If you have more friends than games you're either some kind of incredibly efficient hack or you need to get more games.

Yeah I know. The father of a frined of mine was recently diagnosed and while this friend is trying to limit his swearing concerning cancer, it still slips from his mouth at times.

Ehh, this topic is soooo Canadian.....

Neither their ads nor the phrase itself bothers me in the slightest - in fact I think I will take up their ad slogans as phrases I will use in every day life...you know..in addition to "that's so gay".

What people need to remember is the homo word...no not the one you're thinking of...the other one. Yes Homonym. Gay means homosexual sure, but it meant happy, glad, etc... first. This idea that any person or group can just plant a flag in the ground and demand the word that describes their group be treated differently is silly.

The origin of the word was rooted in homophobia but considering that I know at least 2 people who are gay and use the phrase themselves its plainly obvious that the word has evolved its meaning. Really, people should find something better to do with their lives than worry about how other people are using a word.

Honestly, you know what this reminds me of?



That's how I see this issue.

Thank you for another thoughtful post, Stof.

It always amazes me when people who don't seem to be homophobic at all use this term.. and it always has really bothered me.

wait a minute. you're telling me that people still say "that's gay" when referencing something they don't like? That's so last gen.

/thread

I like to think of myself as a really liberal person, but the one thing that that bothers about my liberal brethren is the overblown sensitivity to everything. Trying to quell the casual use of these words, in my opinion, is an impossible feat, especially with idiotic campaigns such as this one.

Gay, retard, rape and other similar words are used because they've become 'mainstream' insults. Am I saying that this is a good thing? No. The users, for the most part, are desensitized to the meaning, and just use them as generic insults. If a person is homosexual and proud, why should the fact that some immature brat uses the word as an generic insult while playing an online game bother them?

Insults are hollow, meaningless words until somebody decides to "become offended" by them. Only those who use these words with malicious intent and hatred should be preached to, but with the way the world is headed socially, these groups will minimize naturally, which makes campaigns like this meaningless.

I may have come off as a little hostile, but I hope people can see the points that I'm trying to make.

You miss the point.  Yes, raping someone in a game is not offensive to you, because you have not been raped.  Or someone very close to you.  But when you use that expression around someone who HAS has that horrific experience, it is very offensive and possibly damaging.  So unless you know for sure that everyone that will hear you has NOT had that experience, then it's best to be aware of other people's feelings and avoid it.

Same thing goes for "That's so gay."  Yes.  Your friends, even if they are gay, know you and trust you enough to understand that you mean no harm and understand your intentions.  When you joking call a female friend a bitch, she knows you are playing with her and is not offended.  You say it to a stranger and it's offensive.  True of dozens and dozens of words, and people seem to grasp that concept - except in these couple cases, where suddenly it doesn't matter.

But it does.  Go read the news story comments for examples.

Believe me, I didn't miss the point. If I were gay, why should I be offended by what some idiot over the internet, says about my sexual orientation?

I might not have been raped, and I might not be gay or mentally retarded, but that doesn't mean that I don't understand that some people feel the effect of these words to a much greater extent than others, but really, if that's the argument, then it can easily be made for many, many more words than people think.

Maybe I get all D's on my report card and I take serious offence to a guy calling me an idiot over the internet. Maybe I was born a genius , and I get depressed because some girl in my class called me a nerd. Sure you could argue that "rape" is worse than "idiot", but in reality, they're all just words, and the way some people use them, and the way some people perceive them can vary immensly.

But the whole point of the ad is that people aren't aware they are offending people.  

When you call someone an idiot, you are well aware that you are insulting someone.