How popular culture appropriates and mutates gay lingo

 

Darius Dupins/Staff writer

 

Shade. This is a word I hear more often than terms like, “thank you” or “please” and it has become more than just a nuance. I wish I could go a day without someone claiming they’re about to “throw shade” without understanding or knowing its origins.

The legendary Dorian Corey once said, “I don’t tell you you’re ugly, but I don’t have to tell you because you know you’re ugly.” One of Corey’s infamous quotes from Jennie Livingston’s iconic documentary, “Paris Is Burning,” sheds light on the art of shade.

In recent years, “throwing shade” has infiltrated it’s way into mainstream pop culture. Rapper Nicki Minaj has said it or referenced the word a handful of times in speeches or rap verse, Andy Cohen’s cohort of Real Housewives and reality show pawns have made it a part of every promotion advertisement. Even hyper masculine male rappers have been heard referencing the word shade and so has Alex Trebek, too.

I hear it from girls and more recently, guys who don’t openly identify as gay or bi are beginning to claim the phrase as their own. As usual, with popularity comes backlash by those who claim the term “throwing shade” has become blanket term for cattiness or even pettiness.

A term rooted in gay culture is being appropriated, even though the gayest of us are appropriating it, too. The culture depicted in Livingston’s 1990 documentary isn’t mine. For the most part, I can relate to some of the subject matter the film discusses about always operating on two levels in the society – regularly checking my behavior against masculine ideals.

As just an observer of the film, I get a glimpse of a world unbeknownst to me. The NYC ball scene and the affluence in the late 80s of gay culture makes for constant insider/outsider dynamics.

The thing with “shade” is that it’s subtle. Also, “shade” is a form of expression. Unfortunately, expression must change to fit the standards of modern media’s greatest medium, the Internet. Subtlety as an art form is slowly dying. I know this because I’ve been misunderstood on the Internet and in real life.

This isn’t the first time mainstream pop culture has misinterpreted slang. This is how language works, though; it mutates and manifests. For example, “gay” used to mean happy, now it describes an individual’s sexual orientation and can be synonymous with the word “dumb”or “stupid.”

“That’s so dumb or stupid,” now turns into “That’s so gay!” Offensive, but language’s ability to be fluid is what makes it dynamic.

As a takeaway from the film, we also learned the true meaning behind voguing, well before Madonna’s polarizing black and white video took this dance art form to mainstream culture.

Voguing, as defined by Willi Ninja, a ball scene fixture, is “the same thing as taking two knives and gutting each other up, but through dance form…voguing came from shade because it is a dance that two people did because they didn’t like each other…whoever was throwing the best moves was throwing the best shade, basically.”

In Madonna’s case, she took that context away from the art form and term by making it a refuge from the “heartache” and “pain of life.”

Sure, we can take this as a win for gays: the mainstreaming of these terms is a sign of acceptance of an “extremely gay” culture, by hetero standards.

Of course, that doesn’t demand that gays be masculine. But there must come a point when “shade” is used correctly!

To all my straight brothers and sisters, make sure to shade responsibly and remember, shade comes from reading, reading came first.

Disclaimer:
The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of FIU Student Media Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

 

Image from pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/marketing-man-person-communication-362/

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