The homophobic kind of hatin'

We all have teams/schools that we do not like. That we like, in fact, to dislike. I, for example, as a loyal UNH alum and hockey fan dislike Maine. And Boston College. Oh, and Boston University (sorry, Dad!). It's just my duty. And I enjoy such school-specific cheers as "U-R-I, U-R-I, U-R-I-N-E--flush!" when University of Rhode Island comes to town. (Clever, eh?)
But I was never on board with saying, at men's hockey games, "you suck" (or at least not after my naive undergraduate mind was enlightened a little) and its derivatives like "Hey goalie, your boyfriend called and he says..." You get the idea.
But what's happening at Duke (another school I am not fond of but for different reasons--recall that whole lacrosse fiasco a couple of years ago) is getting extreme.
Haters of Duke men's basketball are launching all sorts of homophobic words, chants, videos and even Wikipedia entries at players. Seriously, people go into players' Wikipedia entries and alter them to say they are gay. (Let this also be a lesson to all you undergrads out there about the reliability of Wikipedia!!)
YouTube videos abound that mock players' sexuality. (I haven't looked at the them yet--I'm somewhat hesitant to actually. But the links can be found in the above-linked article.)
As I mentioned, I went to the Sport, Sexuality and Culture conference last week and I don't recall there being discussions on homophobia among fans. It should be a discussion we're having, including how schools can and should deal with this.

[h/t to EBuz for sending the story my way.]

Comments

Diane said…
Calling male athletes gay is as popular as calling them "girls." Even worse, there is no outcry over these displays. I think that the language of bigotry is so ingrained in our culture that--unless someone uses one of the few "designated" hate words--most people do not even have the consciousness to know what they are hearing (or saying). Established phrases like "white trash" and newer ones, like "that's so gay" have very nasty roots, but people do not think about their meanings.
March 27, 2009 12:34 PM
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