It’s Giving Appropriation, Henny
“Regular, straight pop culture has liberally lifted things from gay culture as long as I can remember,” (RuPaul Charles).
Historically, Queer visibility has lagged in all forms of media because of social stigma and discrimination. While Queerness has always influenced art, over the past couple of decades, Queer culture has found its place in mainstream media. The rising popularity of noteworthy shows and films over the past few years like Paris is Burning, Queer Eye, Legendary, and Emmy winners Drag Race and Pose have shown just how large of an impact Queer media has on pop culture, social media, Western media, and society at large. This spotlight has benefited the Queer community in more ways than one but has also made it more vulnerable to appropriation due to newfound visibility.
In a study from Illinois State University, Rachel Elizabeth Laing researches the linguistic appropriation of Queer slang within the popular lexicon. She cites Simes, who defines the “original” gay language from Polari as “a pidgin Italian and Spanish first used by circus performers, later adopted by gay actors, and eventually becoming part of British gay language, though use has subsided after the 1980s,” (Laing).
In the present day in the United States, the origin of Queer slang can be attributed largely to drag and ballroom culture, especially Trans women and drag queens of Color. “It seems as though LGBT people of color can be seen as the source of much slang that has been adapted into popular culture; those that belong to both communities have a higher chance of producing language that eventually becomes co-opted by the dominant culture,” (Laing).
The appropriation of language has been made more accessible than ever by social media platforms like Tik Tok and Twitter. Culturally significant practices and linguistic approaches trend and are quickly and eagerly digested and folded into the dominant cishet culture. In some ways, this is just part of the evolution of language. It is neither good nor bad and an unavoidable part of the process. On the other hand, social media promotes an exhausting and alarming rate of appropriation as well as turnover between what’s trendy for the month. Laing discusses how the appropriation of a culture’s language affects the people who make up a marginalized community, “By using certain language, dialects, or speech patterns, individuals within a community can form bonds and influence their own reality by using these repeated messages. When those from outside a community or group use these patterns or dialects, they can fracture the sense of security or reality that the community holds,” (Laing).
She provides a few examples of words with Queer origins that have been adopted into mainstream language: yaaasss, serving, realness, work/werk, [throwing] shade, clock, and jush. Jush was popularized by the drag queen Jasmine Masters on social media in 2017, which she says can mean basically anything based on context. The word itself is actually a transformation of the Polari word zhush or zshoosh, to make something more stylish, lively, or attractive.
Jasmine Masters booking the jush
Yassification, the process of making something LGBTQ+-adjacent, is another trend from the last year or so. Most popularly, the term was coined to describe a meme format in which characters or popular figures are given luscious lashes, acrylic nails, and juicy lips.
The appropriation of Queer language doesn’t stop at the general population though. Corporations like to hop on to trending words and phrases in order to capitalize off of them. The specific use of Queer language is known as pinkwashing, the strategy of promoting LGBT rights protections as evidence of liberalism and democracy, especially to distract from or legitimize violence against other countries or communities, often to improve a country’s tarnished reputation. “Clothing manufacturers H&M and Levi’s also caused a stir a few years ago when they brought out exclusive, colorful garments as part of their “Pride collections” to promote solidarity with alternatively oriented people. However, they were criticized for producing the garments in countries where homosexuality was still illegal until only recently or still is today, for example Bangladesh and India,” (Fleur Förster).
Ultimately, there are no word police, and freedom of speech is an important right to uphold for every citizen. It should be impressed, however, that this does not give a hall pass for everyone to use whatever words they want free of consequences. Similarly to slurs, the appropriation of a marginalized culture’s language negatively impacts that group of people. When it comes to choosing the words you use, you should listen carefully to what that community says. Remember though, that every community is not a monolith and that different members of the community will all have different opinions. When choosing what to say, ask yourself “what value does using this word add to my life?”
Förster, F. (n.d.). Pinkwashing examples. DMEXCO. Retrieved December 17, 2022, from https://dmexco.com/stories/pinkwashing-examples-that-you-need-to-know-about/
Laing, R. (2021). Who said it first?: Linguistic appropriation of slang terms within the popular lexicon. ISU ReD: Research and EData. https://doi.org/10.30707/etd2021.20210719070603178888.59