Gay Lingo as a Form of Deviance Essay Example

dividing line between the bigger society and the male homosexuals' society. Swardspeak may be a form of deception as it tends to mislead the common people in a way that they would not be ware of what the male homosexuals are talking about (especially if it is about sex, boyfriends, etc. The gay language definitely does not belong to the regular trait complex of ideas and actual words used, which a number of persons conform to similar situation and therefore, might be seen improper, inappropriate, [comma mine] and basically wrong as dictated by the social norms (standards of behavior) that make up a culture. However, the acceptance and adaption [sic] to something which is not established or proper to one's cultural pattern marks a change brought bout by the exposure of the members to the language different from their own, their opportunity to accept it and the way the language was diffused.

Indeed, swardspeak has a way with the life of the male homosexuals [sic], for reasons important to them that common people may not know, the use of it can be considered Justifiable. But what really is swardspeak? What is it for? What implications does it have on the social environment of male homosexuals? Only very recently did social scientists investigate the social facade of male homosexuals yet Clemente, M. D. , Saavedra, M. , ; Vera-Cruz, C. (1991 , January). Swardspeak as a Means to the Formation of the Male Homosexuals' Social Identity (College Thesis).

Gay: [sic] Lingo the Reasons Behind Its Use Why do male overt homosexuals speak in such a strange tongue? What is it really that makes them use the

gay lingo or the swardspeak, as the lingo has been labeled? According to Abraham Florendo (1975), the lingo which he calls "a linguistic gymnastics", succeeds in drawing a gay person into a clique and "the clique satisfies his basic needs to belong". He also adds that the desire to belong entails a sense of freedom; where there is freedom, there are chances for personal fulfillment.

In ddition to this, Vetter (1969) stated that swardspeak can be considered as a device communicating the context of an expression and is as much as a sign of "belongingness and togetherness". The words used by homosexuals are either symbols or codes. They are understood as affirmations that one is a particular kind of person, or a fellow member of an in-group. Hence the emergence of swardspeak may be Justified in the sense that this special language indicates the homosexual's acceptability and belongingness in the confines of their own group.

Furthermore, gay lingo can also be seen as a form of rebellion against the common people or the ormal society to which they cannot conform. Homosexuals prefer to call themselves gays, have to create a world entirely their own, precisely because they belong neither to the male nor to the female sex, in order to feel even a semblance of that elusive sense of belonging (Galang, 1988). Another reason for having gay lingo is to achieve a mark of exclusivity.