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why i, a lesbian, believe bi women can reclaim dyke/the d slur:
a thread
a thread
first of all I wanna talk about the etymology of the slur. the origins of the word are blurred, but here are some theories:
1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/454909.pdf?seq=1
2. https://pdf4pro.com/view/lesson-plan-what-do-faggot-and-dyke-mean-2dbb72.html
1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/454909.pdf?seq=1
2. https://pdf4pro.com/view/lesson-plan-what-do-faggot-and-dyke-mean-2dbb72.html
before I move on I want to point out that these same theories are often used to argue that it is used for “lack of attraction to men” as u can see in this carrd that has been going around. I don’t know why- (1/2)
they’re using these to argue this because it doesn’t say that anywhere. in that carrd they’re giving factual information and then pulling the “lack of attraction to men” thing out of their ass. (2/2)
if it has to do with the fact that it says it was used against lesbians, it still doesn’t say that it was used against lesbians to target the lack of attraction to men. speaking of which:
while reading this u have to keep in mind, lesbianism used to be inclusive of bisexual women, it used to be used like the word sapphic. the term bisexual was coined in 1892, but it wasn’t popularized until the 80’s.
lesbianism was something you did rather than what you were. the word dyke was put in the dictionary in the 40’s, which precedes the division between bisexuals and lesbians from the 60’s-80’s.
It’s defined as lesbian, and when it was put in the dictionary, lesbian meant sapphic. It was about the attraction to women. therefore the d slur was about attraction to women, NOT lack of attraction to men.
source: https://sapphic-sex-ed.tumblr.com/post/165740376237/for-anyone-who-says-butch-and-femme-are
this about femme and butch but it talks about the history of the word lesbian as well
this about femme and butch but it talks about the history of the word lesbian as well
for these reasons, to me the word dyke is used against us for our attraction to women, so if it’s used against bi women I do not think it is misdirected, bc it applies to them, which is why I think they can reclaim it
if ANYONE has a source that explicitly states that it is used against lesbians for the lack of attraction to men, I may change my mind, but until then this is my view.
adding this on to the thread for people who don’t stfu about the definiton being lesbian https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Appeal-to-Definition
adding this too bc reasons https://bisexualsreclaim.carrd.co/#
