Why I listen to the music I do...

I've been having some moral dilemmas about my music lately. Namely... since I'm in the LBGTQ I probably shouldn't listen to certain songs with words like Faggot... Key word here being shouldn't. But when I looked through my song list I found a lot of songs I like have that word. So I spent weeks instead working to justify the word and deleting the songs which do not have justification. A warning I'm going to use this word a lot since it is the particular problem.

The first thing you must understand is that I actually like crude songs. I may understand that those words are wrong but I get a sick glee hearing them and saying them anyways. They just have this awesome sound to them. This leads me to kind of think of most swear words as artistic license. In general, there is a reason the words were used, not only with meaning but simply because the rhyme wouldn't work otherwise. Have you heard the snide censoring some artists do in replacement of their actual song because it messes with their song? I would never censor a song, the swear words are an integral part of the song. That being said... Uses in my playlist do need to be addressed.

Otep has fag a few times but it is sort of ironic considering she is a lesbian. It is kind of the n-word privileges there... Not right but who is going to tell her that. Besides... There is the argument that can be true that it is ironic. It is used deliberately to show how bad the word is and to lessen the impact... Somehow to belittle a word that has such a strong negative impact to it.

Korn, on the other hand, took a lot of justification. For those who don't know Korn, shame on you and those who do probably don't know them well enough. They have an earlier song called Faget and another song called All in the Family, which uses it. I will dissect each song separately...

Faget is a song about bullying. It is easy to see why the word is used. Those words had a strong impact on Johnathan Davis since those words were directed at him. How much of White male and even not so white male culture uses words like gay and faggot to scold males for "ill" behavior. Feminine males and those with wrong orientation do all the time. In this sense, Faggot in the song is not against gays. It is a general insult turned back and a bully victim using it against a bully. In this line, context makes it less offensive although still not right.

All in the Family is even harder to understand the use of. This song is Fred Durst and Johnathan Davis insulting each other. They both use the word and even do some remarks that could be seen as homophobic without context. Now... I can't say anything to defend Fred Durst for continuing to use it but... Johnathan Davis has an excuse and probably hates the word as much as any gay guy. He is straight but due to the issues from the incident described in the song Daddy from the first album, he probably got the insult a lot at a time when he couldn't even bare to touch females. He couldn't confirm his heterosexuality so faggot to him is less an insult to him because he is insulted being called homosexual but because it was used to undermine his heterosexuality when he couldn't prove otherwise.

In All in the Family he actually turns it around by using the idea of being gay to make Fred Durst uncomfortable almost as though to say "What? Is there a problem with that?" When Fred Durst brings up the insult again, Johnathan Davis becomes very blatant with the homosexual references. The song is almost a deconstruction both showing that it is indeed possible to insult a white man and all the possible insults but also... It points out the absurdity of all of the insults including faggot. The only time it gets too much is when Johnathan Davis becomes borderline graphic which makes Fred Durst's brain shut down with a "Dude..."

But I admit these thoughts are only my assumptions to justify. The only way one could truly know is to ask the two artists on the list. There are probably more inappropiate words and phrases but I'm not going into that now.