Lesbienne ou Gouine: LGBTQ+ Slur Reclamation in French

Slur reclamation is a linguistic process wherein a community reclaims words intended to hurt them. This paper focuses on the sociolinguistic factors behind LGBTQ+ slur reclamation in French. Hence the research question: What are the sociolinguistics factors behind the reclamation process of anti-LGBTQ+ slurs in French? The research was conducted under the hypothesis that French reclamation would only differ from English in people’s objections which would be based on a prestige-appealing ideology. An online questionnaire was used, which participants completed on a voluntary basis. From the results, it appears that LGBTQ+ slur reclamation in French operates in a similar manner as in English. Prestige, however, was less often a factor in French than the hypothesis assumed. Instead, those against reclamation cited the following reasons: derogation too deeply encoded in the slur (always has the potential to hurt anyone, could contribute to internalised oppression), refusal to be defined...Show moreSlur reclamation is a linguistic process wherein a community reclaims words intended to hurt them. This paper focuses on the sociolinguistic factors behind LGBTQ+ slur reclamation in French. Hence the research question: What are the sociolinguistics factors behind the reclamation process of anti-LGBTQ+ slurs in French? The research was conducted under the hypothesis that French reclamation would only differ from English in people’s objections which would be based on a prestige-appealing ideology. An online questionnaire was used, which participants completed on a voluntary basis. From the results, it appears that LGBTQ+ slur reclamation in French operates in a similar manner as in English. Prestige, however, was less often a factor in French than the hypothesis assumed. Instead, those against reclamation cited the following reasons: derogation too deeply encoded in the slur (always has the potential to hurt anyone, could contribute to internalised oppression), refusal to be defined by your label, pointlessness of the reclamation process. Those in favour of slur reclamation stated the following reasons in the questionnaire: reinforcement of an ingroup feeling, erosion the derogation, humour, unintentionally (part of their lexicon), provocation, secret queer language, ignorance of the insulting nature.Show less

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Lesbienne ou Gouine: LGBTQ+ Slur Reclamation in French