The Power of Words

When I was a kid, one of the most common phrases I would hear in retaliation to insults was, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Although this expression was common to show that this person was not really a victim of name-calling to ignore a taunt in order to avoid physical altercations, this phrase was rarely, if ever, true. Words have power. Because of this power, words do have the ability to hurt us.

Some of the most commonly used insults for name-calling are ones that target a person’s sexuality, such as “gay” or “faggot”, usually at the expense of a male.  The use of these words can be detrimental to a person, especially as kid, on the mental and physical level. The way a person responds to these types of insults can have a lasting effect. If one is defensive or hyper-masculinizes their response, this leads to suspicion and can reflect badly, leading the bully to believe you are either homophobic or homosexual yourself just because of this one word. However, the ability to appropriate these words has allowed people to slip by under the radar. For example, in the story I Like Guys, the use of the word “faggot” was used as a derogative meaning to insinuate that the person was homosexual, but David and his friend Jason were able to re-appropriate it by making it sound funny with different adjectives and advert the stereotype by not aggressively denying it. The power of these homosexual words have caused the use of saying “no homo” to be given power to say whatever a person wants without mistaking their sexually, a fear that many straight people have, so it tends to be overused with comments.

Having an ambiguous comment that could be taken sexually, mainly between males, is seen to carry too much weight unless followed by the "no homo" phrase.  

Although the word can sound demeaning, the power of words depend greatly on who is using it and the way it is said. These actions can help influence the amount of power behind the words used. Nonverbal cues such as facial cues, tone, and pitch of the voice in the deliverance of the word can greatly impact on how it needs to be taken. Again, in I Like Guys, the use of the word “faggot” was funny when said jokingly between two friends who were able to be comfortable in the presence of each other, because they would not feel ostracized. However, at the end of the story, Jason got uncomfortable with his feelings and tried to expose David as a “faggot” but due to his actions of carrying an “I like guys” sign that was supposedly David’s, it only served to alienate himself. 

Not only do actions influence the power of a word but the power that a word carries originally can make an impact on actions. The word “homosexual” has such weight to it that many, especially younger generations, strive to distance themselves from this meaning. In Go Carolina, those who would later identify themselves as the “future homosexual of America,” attempted to distance themselves from any object/actions/people that identified with homosexuality. They would stay away from others who were similar to themselves to avoid attention, and would identify with heterosexual sports that they did not even like, such as football. Even if one owns up to their sexuality later in life, such as Alex Darke in his Facebook post of I Don’t Understand, they must be conscious of their actions even if they are already “out of the closet”. He states that he has to be cautious of all the little PDA’s we take for granted, such as holding hands or even just going out with is spouse, because some who see these displays have such a powerful negative reaction to “homosexuals” and what this word implicates that spur the person into an act of violence.

So are words powerful? Absolutely.