Reply #19: It's a mixed bag [View All]

[Prism]

"That's so gay" is an outwardly directed denigration that has no positive connotations.

"No homo" is a bit more complicated. (Full disclosure, I actually think the phrase is kind of hilarious and adorable). With it, you see straight males expressing sentiments that they ordinarily would simply leave unspoken lest anyone think they actually were gay. The example the poster gives above is a good one.

The context in which I've seen it is often one male saying something positive to another male. It feels, to me, like it's a kind of bridge, a little coming out of a homophobic shell where men completely closed off any form of male to male affection for fear of being perceived as gay.

In a perfect world, of course, you'd never want anyone to use homosexuality in any kind of degrading way, but this . . . I don't know. There's an intangible feeling of progress with it. Kind of two steps forward, one step back.

If that makes sense.