I've seen several radical feminists bash other feminists (libfems etc) for using the word queer. Could you shed some light on why "queer" is a slur? Also, can't it be problematic to just say "it's a slur! Stop using it!" and not explaining why (cont)

(cont) I know that it can be extremely annoying and counter-productive to have to “teach” everyone all the time, but in this case it seems that a majority of feminists using the word queer honestly means well.

The term queer was originally used as a perjorative term for homosexuals, and many radfems think that just as “slut” can’t be reclaimed as “woman who enjoys sex” because of its connotations, queer can’t be reclaimed either. People can use the word “queer” for themselves however much they want to, I really don’t care that much. They can’t, however, use it for me, because I don’t label myself that way (because 1. I don’t agree with queer theory, and 2. the connotations with the word “queer” today isn’t “homosexual”, it’s liberal pomo bullshit that can mean anything from Actual Homosexual to Heterosexual Dude Who Enjoys Spanking His Wife On Sundays).

I personally also think that it erases homosexual identities. As in, lesbians barely exist anymore because everyone is now “queer” for “inclusion” (as in - being a homosexual woman is apparently the worst thing you can be, and you have to call yourself queer to be inclusive, and inclusiveness is a smoke screen! inclusion, for many queer activists, means that males should have access to lesbians and be fuckable to lesbians, which they aren’t - so lesbians are now labeled “queer” and are pressured into including men in their sexualities).



I don’t know how it would be problematic not to explain why. For example, my native language is not English so sometimes I don’t know what’s okay to say and not. I accidentally referred to aboriginal people of Australia as something that I didn’t know wasn’t an okay term to use in English (I used the term that is socially acceptable in my culture/language) and I received a nice pm about it with the correct term to use - so now I use that term instead. I didn’t ask why, because I don’t care “why”, if someone with that heritage tells me that what I said wasn’t a word I should use, then why would I even want to use it? Of course I won’t, for the very simple reason that I’m not rude. It’s not hard for me to just use another word, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t, especially if someone asks me to.

- Pi