Pejoratives

I dislike people using pejoratives very much. There really is no reason I can think of to use them. It makes my blood boil. Oftentimes people don't even realize what they are saying is offensive.

I was at a high school football game last night. I wasn't shocked by the number of teens walking around cursing. "Oh shit, I dropped my damn purse. The effin' pisses me off. Son of a bitch."

I mostly rolled my eyes at their attempts to squeeze every curse word into one or two statements. I am no saint. I curse. Sometimes I curse a lot. I try to not curse around children. I'm not perfect. What I am is respectful. At least that is why I aim for and what I teach my kids.

These kids were talking about drugs, and sex, and all the same crap I thought was cool at age 14. What did I know? Nothing. Guess what? Knowledge is power. My children know a hell of a lot more than I do! I try to teach them in all the ways I feel I should have been taught. They understand respect. They know what manners are. They, for the most part, behave in this department.

The thing I just really do not get in this day and age is the use of pejoratives by teenagers. I really really dislike people calling each other gay, as if this is a negative personality trait. It's like calling someone who is uneducated blond. Only worse. It suggests that a group of people are all acting a certain way.

So children...don't use slurs like this. Be better than that. Lift yourself up and choose to not say words that have negative energy attached to them.

...and parents...teach your children that calling people gay, retarded, fag, etc. is unacceptable behavior and that there are consequences for choosing to use such words. Set your child up for success. Give them the tools to be a better person.

That's all I got. It's simple really. If your friend acts silly call him a fool, not a fag. Call him goof, not gay. Hell, call him stupid if it means you wont call him gay.