Dyke (slang)

Dyke is slang terminology referring to a lesbian or lesbianism. It originated as a derogatory label for a masculine woman, and this usage still exists. However, some attempt to use it in a manner they see as positive, or simply as a neutral synonym for lesbian.[1] To some extent the word has been reappropriated.

Contents

Origins

The origin of the term is obscure, and many theories have been proposed.[2][3] The OED dates the first recorded use of dike, dyke in 1942, in Berrey and Van den Bark's American Thesaurus of Slang.[4] In his review of a short-lived 1930 Broadway play, Robert Benchley says “[the hero]…is confronted with several engineering problems which he solves by mistake. There’s your story. Interlard it with every known crack which has been made along Broadway for the past two years (and several which haven’t, chief among them being: ‘Did you employ dikes in building the Barge Canal?’ ‘No, we just had a gang of Italians.’ This I consider top for the evening.”) and there you have “So Was Napoleon.”[5] The term bulldyker, which dyke may be shortened from, was first appeared in 1920s novels connected with the Harlem Renaissance.[2] For example, in the 1928 novel Home to Harlem, Claude McKay wrote: "[Lesbians are] what we calls bulldyker in Harlem. ... I don't understan' ... a bulldyking woman." (The term is unattested in the OED.) From the context in the novel, the word was considered crude and pejorative at the time.

Several theories have been proposed for the origin of bulldyker. One is that it was an abbreviation of morphadike, a dialect variant of hermaphrodite, commonly use for homosexuals in the early twentieth century. This in turn may be related to the late 19th century slang use of dyke (meaning ditch) for the vulva.[6] Bull is also a common expression for "masculine" or "aggressive" (as in "bullish"), and bulldyke implied a "masculine woman." Another theory claims bulldyker was a term used for bulls used to impregnate cows. The word "stud" was extended for sexually promiscuous men or a man successful with women. The terms "bulldyker" and "bulldagger" were also taken from their original context and used for the same purpose. A man who was a great lover was called a "bulldyker." "Bulldyking woman" and "bulldyker" became terms for women who resembled a "bulldyker," a male stud, and were assumed to perform the role.[7]

In Another Mother Tongue, Judy Grahn proposed the word bulldyke may have arisen from the name of the Celtic queen Boadicea, but this is implausible. [1][3]

Increasing acceptance

In the late 20th and early 21st century, the term was reclaimed by many lesbians. Examples in the culture include the comic strip "Dykes to Watch out For" and the traditional Dykes on Bikes that lead pride parades.

Matters came to a head when the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied lesbian motorcycle group Dykes on Bikes a trademark for its name, on the grounds that "dyke" was an offensive word. In 2005, after a prolonged court battle involving testimony on the word's changing role in the lesbian community,[8] the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board permitted the group to register its name.[9]

Variants

The term will sometimes have an adjective added to it, as in:

Dyke bars

A dyke bar is a term used to describe any bar or club in which lesbians often attend, but can also indicate a "tougher" establishment (in terms of the patrons or environment). As with the stand-alone word "dyke," the term is considered not only slang, but a potential slur when used by non-LGBT persons.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Krantz, Susan E. (1995). "Reconsidering the Etymology of Bulldike". American Speech (American Speech, Vol. 70, No. 2) 70 (2): 217–221. doi:10.2307/455819. JSTOR 455819. 
  2. ^ a b Spears, Richard A. (1985). "American Speech". American Speech 60 (4): 318–327. JSTOR 454909. 
  3. ^ a b Dynes, Wayne R. (1991). The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. Garland Publishing. pp. 335–336. http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/index.php/Portal:EOH. 
  4. ^ "dike, dyke, n.3" The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford UP. 4 Apr. 2000 <http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50064031>.
  5. ^ Benchley, Robert (1930). "The Theatre" inThe New Yorker; Jan. 11, p. 35. See also Louis Menand's "It Took a Village: How the Voice Changed Journalism" in the January 5, 2009, edition of The New Yorker, where on p. 39 he references Mary McCarthy's use of the "dike" spelling from her time in Greenwich Village in the 1930s.
  6. ^ According to www.etymonline.com. The OED records no such interpretation.
  7. ^ Herbst, Phillip (2001). Wimmim, Wimps & Wallflowers: an encyclopaedic dictionary of gender and sexual orientation bias. Intercultural Press. pp. 332. ISBN 9781877864803. http://books.google.com/?id=8rgUeEpWfbsC&dq=bulldyking+woman. 
  8. ^ Anten, Todd (2006). "Self-Disparaging Trademarks and Social Change: Factoring the Reappropriation of Slurs into Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act" (PDF). Columbia Law Review 106: 338. http://www.columbialawreview.org/pdf/Anten-Web.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-12 
  9. ^ (365gay.com)
  10. ^ Baby Dyke
  11. ^ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chapstick%20lesbian&defid=4168493
  12. ^ http://www.bimagazine.org/fict/pages/article_6.html

External links