School spirit overlooked in Fuller’s column on slurs

TO THE EDITOR:

I commend Jessica Fuller for attending UNC’s opening football game last Saturday, but I think maybe she was missing the point of the game in her column (“Slurs only reinforce gender labels,” Aug. 7). The point wasn’t to be politically correct — the point was to cheer on our team.

I don’t think people quite understand what they are saying when they use colloquial terms such as “suck” and “gay.” However, these terms are intended to be understood as slang terms, not as personal insults or even an outlook on society.

Pejorative terms have been used throughout history. One of our more popular terms, “terrific,” originally referred to frightful or “terrifying” things. Who knows how terms will transform in future usage.

I’m not saying that the insults shouted at the game were right, but I think we can overlook the insult to women they implied. I’m confident in my femininity, and those words do not change what I can accomplish in society. I think what was important at the football game was the school spirit of the majority, not the insults of the few and obnoxious.


Shannon Spain
Sophomore
Linguistics