The following is a list of sexual slurs that are, or have been, used to refer to members of a given sexual minority, gender, sex, or sexual orientation in a derogatory or pejorative manner. The term is listed, followed by its definition, usage, and origin. Not all terms on the list are considered equally offensive. Many of these terms are used more widely than would be imagined based on their "definition", for example, gay is used as a slur to refer to any person or thing, meaning either one who is romantically attracted to others of the same sex, or stupid. The key here is that the person using the slur intends to harm the person so labeled by associating them with a sexual minority. The motivation for using an sexual slur is often sexism and/or anti-gay bias.
As seen above with the term gay, terms which originated as or where at one point predominantly positive connotation and came from minority groups to describe themselves are often used against them as slurs. It is also not uncommon for members of minority groups to adopt an originally disparaging term and use it of themselves, as an act of self-assertion. However, they may be extremely offended if it is used by others; Nigger being an extreme example. Queer, on the other hand, has been re-claimed by many members of sexual minorities and is the term by which these individuals would prefer to be called, as long as it is in a respectful manner.
Some of the slurs used against women are also used aganist men, but with the addition of male before. So "slut" becomes "male slut", and "whore" becomes "male whore". These uses imply that being a woman is a normal state for a slut or a whore, and thus when a man is a slut or whore it must be specified. Similarly, being a man is the normal state of a prick; a female prick requires the specifier.
Many of the terms which people propose as gender equivalents, sets of different terms to describe the same trait in males and females, are actually asymmetrically biased in favor of males, examples: bastard and bitch.
David Plummer argues that the following anti-gay terms which often connotate effeminate behaviour are also used when young boys betray "peer group solidarity" or fail to, "measure up to 'hegemonic' boys' standars rather than necessarily being 'feminine'." Thus he argues "that homophobia has its early roots in boyhood 'otherness'--specifically in being different from the collectively authorized expectations of male peers." [1] (pdf)
See also: Term of disparagement, List of ethnic slurs
A to C | D - G | H to K | L to Q | R to Z
Suggested formating :
Term - definition(,/;) usage(,/;) origin
A to C
- African queen - black gay male, U.K.
- ass rammer - gay male, refers to anal sex
- ass spelunker - gay male
- battle axe -
- bent - opposite of straight, gay, mainly british usage
- bastard - person born out of wedlock or "illegitimately", jerk or the male equivalent of bitch despite its common use to describe women, see note below
- bitch - female dog, assertive female
- breeder - straight person
- bulldagger - lesbian, variant of bulldyke
- bulldyke - lesbian, variant of dyke, possible variant of bedecked->bediked->bulldyke
- butt fucker - gay male, refers to anal sex
- butt pirate - gay male, refers to anal sex
- cake eater - gay male, refers to anal sex acts
- carpet muncher - lesbian, refers to oral sex
- chick with dick - A transexual, a female who has become a male.
- cock - penis, insensitive male
- cock jockey -
- cock sucker - gay male, refers to oral sex
- cream puff - effeminate gay male
- cunt - vagina, female
D to G
- deviate - gay male or lesbian
- dick - penis, insensitive male
- dickhead - penis head, insensitive male
- doughnut puncher - gay male
- dyke - lesbian, many possible origins: may come from "dyked out" or getting dressed up; from hermaphrodite->maphrodite->maphrodike; from *boudicca a celtic queen/chieftain of the Icena tribe
- fag - gay male, see faggot. Also a British term for cigarrette.
- faggot - gay male; from the French fagot and Italian fa(n)gotto meaning "bundle of sticks", being derived either from the usage of the term to refer to younger boys in all male English boarding schools being forced to gather wood for the older boys fires or from the burning of heretics
- fairy - effeminate and/or gay male
- fanny - buttocks, vagina, insensitive male
- femme - feminine, effeminate and/or gay male
- flamer - effeminate gay male
- fruit - effeminate and/or gay male
- fudge packer - gay male, refers to anal sex
- gay - gay male; weak, stupid, or bad, this usage implies that gay people or being gay is weak, stupid, or generally bad; however, gay is also the prefered synonym for homosexual or other terms when used respectfully
- girl - effeminate male, as in "don't be a girl"
H to K
- hetero -
- ho - promiscuous woman; woman who does not conform to societies behavioural, sexual, and clothing norms
- homo - gay male, see homosexual
- homosexual - most often gay male, sometimes lesbian; invented in 1869, the Safe Schools Coalition of Washington's Glossary for school employees states: "Homosexual: Avoid this term; it is clinical, distancing and archaic. Sometimes appropriate in referring to behavior (although same-sex is the preferred adj.). When referring to people, as opposed to behavior, homosexual is considered derogatory and the terms gay and lesbian are preferred, at least in the Northwest."
- illegitimate - birth out of wedlock
L to Q
- lesbo - lesbian
- mama's boy - effeminate male who is controlled by his mother or has a good relationship with her
- muff diver - lesbian, refers to oral sex
- nance - variant of nancy
- nancy - effeminate and/or gay male, see mama's boy
- nancy boy - variant of nancy
- nellie - variant of nelly
- nelly - effeminate gay male
- no name - pejorative term from Latin America and the Phillippines
- pederast - male who has relationships with a pubescing boy or a young man (corresponding to an age of about 12 to 20), slur when used to describe same sex relationships or sexual acts that are not pederasty
- pillow biter - a gay male who recieves during intercourse
- poof - short for poofter
- poofta - variant of poofter
- poofter - effeminate and/or gay male
- prick - penis, insensitive male
- punk - In prison slang, punk refers to someone who is treated as a sexual submissive
- pussy - vagina, effeminate and/or gay male
- queen - effeminate or cross-dressing gay male
- queer - strange or unusual; a member of any sexual minority, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender
- queer bait -
R to Z
- she-male -
- shrew - wife given to nagging
- sissy - effeminate and/or gay male
- sissy boy - variant of sissy
- skank - promiscuous, most often female
- skippy poofter - gay male immigrant, common insult in Australia, skippy is Australian slang for kangaroo and a slur used towards immigrants
- slut - promiscuous woman, woman who does not conform to societies behavioural, sexual, and clothing norms
- tom boy - masculine female
- tramp - promiscuous woman, woman who does not conform to societies behavioural, sexual, and clothing norms
- tranny - transgender or transsexual person
- wanker - a male who masturbates, someone obnoxious
- whore - sex worker; promiscuous woman; woman who does not conform to societies behavioural, sexual, and clothing norms
- wimp -
- woofta - variant of woofter
- woofter - variant of poofter
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