The Use of Sexual Orientation-Related Insults Among College Students

The purpose of this study was: to determine what insults college students know and use; to develop a model of insult use in general, and of sexual orientation-related insult (SOI) use in particular; and, to understand the impact of SOI use on students of different sexual orientations. Data were collected from interview participants, field observations on and around a university campus, top-rated movies and TV shows, and two focus groups with lesbian/gay/bisexual (LGB) students. Overall, the interview participants generated 1,453 insults, a mean of 20 insults. Men listed significantly more SOI's than women. The insult categories rated as "worst" by participants were race-related, SOI's, and insults for women. Field data yielded 317 insults. The three most frequent categories of field insults were for women, personality-related insults, and SOI's (accounting for 14.5% of field insults). Fag was one of the five most frequently overheard insults, and was used significantly more frequently by men than women. None of the recorded SOI uses appeared to be directed to an LGB target. The media data yielded 655 insults, with comedies including significantly more insults than dramas. SOI's accounted for 1.8% of media insults. Decisions regarding both serious and good-natured insult use involved four major components: insulter characteristics, social cues to be read, social cues to be conveyed, and the response of the insult target (and sometimes of an audience). The majority of heterosexual participants identified SOI's as inappropriate to direct towards LGB people, though LGB participants described numerous examples of being maliciously targeted with SOI's. Heterosexual participants who were supportive of LGB people were significantly less likely to use SOI's than participants who were ambivalent or disapproving. Heterosexual men used SOI's with greater frequency than heterosexual women. These men used SOI's primarily as tools of peer pressure and regulating gender role expression in other men. SOI's were a safe way for men with traditional conceptions of masculinity to express affection for each other while asserting heterosexuality; less traditional men were less likely to use SOI's.