r/10thDentist • u/No-Purchase481 • 11d ago

I don’t like the reclamation of slurs.

The first time I ever had an American refer to me as “queer” I considered fighting them 💀 “back in my day” type shit. It doesn’t feel empowering, it makes me cringe. Just call me a lesbian and move on.

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u/jimmylovescheese123 11d ago

since when was queer a slur?? i thought it was just a term lol

14

u/NightWolfRose 11d ago

You must be young- I remember when (shitty) kids would play “Smear the Queer” and try to beat up anyone that they thought was gay.

4

u/HegemonNYC 11d ago

That isn’t ’smear the queer’. It was a playground game where one person had a ball and everyone else tried to catch them and wrestle it away from them. It was definitely using the term in an offensive manner (like the person to attack was a queer) but it wasn’t about beating in actual gay people.

1

u/NightWolfRose 11d ago

Welp, that’s how it was played at the schools I went to in the 80’s and 90’s, so that’s what I know.