Azealia Banks got into a Twitter spat with Perez Hilton a while back when Perez tweeted his opinion on Azealia’s beef with rapper Angel Haze. In Azealia’s response to Perez, she called him a “messy faggot.” Perez, of course, exploited the situation and played the victim, telling Yung Rapunxel she should know better than to use “the other f word.”
I don’t know anyone who says “the F-word,” and I really don’t know anyone who says “the other F-word.” It’s fuck and faggot, bitch. Or if it’s me to my date on Saturday night, “Fuck this faggot, bitch.”
Writing for Xtra, a publication that does not believe in censorship of any kind, is what taught me not to be afraid of words. I remember the first time I wrote a blog post with the word “nigger” in it. I was quoting something Chris Brown said, and I wrote “n*****” instead of the actual word. I guess I wrote it that way because I grew up thinking white people weren’t allowed to say or write nigger, that to do so was racist and inappropriate.
My censorship of the word was quickly changed to its full and accurate form, and I had a conversation with my editor about expurgation, which made me realize how stupid it is to limit or restrict someone’s right to any given word.
Words are not dangerous. It is only the context in which they’re used that can be.
Azealia has taken to Twitter once again not only to bash Perez, but to let the world know her definition of the word “faggot” and her right to use it. Her view can be summed up by her disapproval of how “Everyones always acting like its fucking 1905 in this bitch.”
At one point, she asked her followers what their definition of faggot is. @BullshitSalad wrote “a free word people should stop overreacting about,” and @jimmyplatto has a unique definition, considering it to mean, “brand or twig; a bundle of these.”
For me, faggot means free and fabulous. Just like all words, and the people who use them, should be.
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