Banning the word lesbian

Posted by Riayn | Filed under current affairs, lesbian

The EU is known for getting a little rigid on who can legally use words to describe products. The first product to feel its wrath was champagne.  If it was not made in the Champagne region of France then it could no longer be called champagne, instead it was demoted to “sparkling wine”.

Now it seems if you were not born of the Greek island of Lesbos, you can not be called a lesbian. Now I can understand the people of Lesbos getting their nose a little out of joint by all these dykes running around the place calling themselves lesbians, but do they really think that going to court about this is going to get people to stop calling gay women lesbians?

Let’s say for a moment, that they do win their court case and only people born on Lesbos can be called lesbians. What do we call gay women? I personally love the word dyke, in fact I much prefer it to the word lesbian. Lesbian to me sounds kinda clinical. However, if the word dyke then becomes the accepted word for lesbian, I imagine we will have the Dutch in court saying that if someone is not a long wall or bank built in the Netherlands to keep out the sea then they can not be legally called a dyke.

So what should be the new term for gay women? I can’t imagine carpet munchers would go down well in polite company, although the evil side of me would love to see one of those uppity news readers or homophobic politicians have to use the term on air. Let’s hear what you think we should be called.

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Permalink | May 3rd, 2008

10 Responses to “Banning the word lesbian”

  1. lelak Says:
    May 3rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm

    Women in Comfortable Shoes.

  2. Kelley Says:
    May 3rd, 2008 at 11:03 pm

    Oh babe, you so have to go and read this post!

    http://www.debontherocks.com/2008/04/lesbians-days-are-numbered.html

    It was brilliant!

    LMAO at the Dutch dyke reference :)

  3. Kelly Says:
    May 4th, 2008 at 1:27 am

    I don’t think the Dutch are as uptight as the Greeks, so we might still be able to use Dyke. But as lalak said, Women in Comfortable Shoes, while not as pithy, is certainly timeless.

    Kellys last blog post..Burning Sun

  4. Riayn Says:
    May 4th, 2008 at 10:11 am

    Lelak: We can acronised it as WICS. Hmmm, do I want to be called a wic?

    Kelley: Thanks so much for the link. A brand new blog to put in my reader :)

    Kelly: That is true, the Dutch are more relaxed, look at their cafes. I guess that is two votes for WICS then.

  5. Nyssa1968 Says:
    May 4th, 2008 at 6:58 pm

    I personally love women in comfortable shoes, including as a term to use to describe oneself. But, I’m not sure those lesbians that exist out there who don’t like comfortable shoes will feel included. Some of ‘em are quite uppity.

    As for the Dutch, our word for the barriers keeping out the sea is ‘dijk’, usually translated into English as ‘dike’, so no problems there.

    And I like dyke better than lesbian, too. Lesbian seems to roll off the tongues of straight men a little too lasciviously for my liking ;-)

  6. Kamila Says:
    May 6th, 2008 at 4:03 am

    i quite like dyke too… and the word performs gracefully in identity combos: i am a “jewdyke” / “kike-dyke”, a “femme dyke”, a “wen-do dyke” (wen-do = a self-defence martial art developped specifically for wimmin), a “trike dyke” (dyke who rides tricycles).

    lately i’ve been kind of preferring “queergirl”, as it both implies my permanent failure to become a mature responsible adult (i adore sparkles with/on everything, swinging high on park swings, skipping down the street while singing “let’s go fly a kite”, children’s books and movies, etc.) *and* includes bi friends and those who have not ruled out occasional boy-sex…

    i’m afraid “women in comfortable shoes” doesn’t describe me anymore as in the last few years i’ve developed a yen for footware with several-inch high chunky heels. (though i still test them in the store to see if i can run/sprint in them. that’s still my no.1 criterium for a new shoe purchase. i may be okay with inconveniencing my arches, but i refuse to lower my chances of saving my butt in an “i got attacked” situation…)

    …and what about resuscitating some old old code words? i mean, sarah waters’s book title “tipping the velvet” literally translates as “cunt-licking” — so hey, who wants to be a “velvet tipper”? :) and i’m sure there are plenty other artistic expressions just waiting to be re-used in the 21st century…

  7. Riayn Says:
    May 6th, 2008 at 10:27 am

    Kamila: Welcome to DAA! I am with you on your love of the word dyke. You are right, it does make some nice word combos. I also like “queergirl” as a encompassing word of all women with a queer orientation. Also congratulations on refusing to become a mature adult.
    As for resurrecting old code words, how does everyone feel about the word “Tommy”?

  8. Kelley Says:
    May 8th, 2008 at 2:51 pm

    LMAO, it seems I am finding quite a few blogs for you babe! Hmmm, perhaps I should start charging for my services?

    Kelleys last blog post..I am a woman of my word, Iceel you bastard.

  9. Damian Says:
    May 8th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

    Wait… what was that about going down well in polite company ?

    (ignore me)

    Damians last blog post..Adventures in PowerShell part 1 - Desktop Cleaning

  10. Melissa Says:
    May 11th, 2008 at 9:40 am

    So let me get this straight (Pardon the pun ;) )… a country, is upset that gay women are referred to as Lesbians. So they want to make it official for ALL their citizens to henceforth be known as Lesbians? Yeah that makes sense.

    And if the country is called Lesbos, might I suggest that they call themselves Lesbosians and leave Lesbians alone ;)
    Melissas last blog post..Guess What I Did NOT Get Today

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