Abccccc’s Weblog

Queer is a term with ever-changing meaning. In most cases, the word has a derogatory meaning. There are meanings of the word that the author did not mention in the paper: to spoil; ruin; to put (a person) in a hopeless or disadvantageous situation as to success, favor; to jeopardize, according to Dictionary.com. Queer is commonly known to describe something odd or to describe people who engage in homosexual behaviors. I agree with the author that some people may be offended by this word, some may not. This depends on how people perceive the meaning of the word. Personal and cultural experience can affect the use of this word, for instance, I first understood the meaning of queer is equivalent to strange. I would not be offended if others called me queer in this case. However, I disagree with the author’s teacher which he/she chastised the student because the student used the word ‘queer’. The word (queer) can mean anything. In terms of homosexuality, I believe society has generally accepted the term ‘queer’ as a form identity. Would it be more degrading to call someone a ‘faggot’ than to call someone a ‘queer’?

To use ‘queer’ in terms of homosexuality, I don’t see any person show his/her sexual orientation to one another since we are not that close. On the other hand, I can recognize other behaviors as queer in class in terms of other meanings, such as odd situations at the beginning of class where people were confused to what was going on in class. Another example would be the in-class discussions of the wiki page in last few classes put our classmates in hopeless or disadvantageous situations as to success.