Swish (slang) explained
Swish is a US English slang term for effeminate behavior and interests[1] [2] (camp), emphasized and sanctioned in gay male communities prior to the Stonewall riots.[3] [4] This behaviour is also described as being nelly in British English,[5] and both terms are often considered to be derogatory.[1] [6]
Being swish stereotypically includes a "sashaying" walk, and the use of falsetto voices, feminine pronouns, and superlatives.[7] [8] According to Martin Levine and Michael Kimmel in Gay Macho: The Life and Death of the Homosexual Clone:
Status after the Stonewall riots
Although being butch was viewed as deviant and socially unacceptable by gay male society,[9] being swish has since lost its mainstream gay status post-Stonewall, and in addition to being used occasionally by mainstream culture is now most often derogatory even when used by gay men. Though it may be assumed that most post-Stonewall gay men view acting swish as internalized homophobia, a concession to stereotypes of gay men as less than manly. However, the Castro clone, a hyper-masculine, macho standard and ideal behaviour that replaced swish, adapted many camp elements such as dishing (gossip).
Thus while clones could view swish as embodying anti-gay stereotypes, being swish was a way of indicating and performing one's identity, indicating that anti-gay stereotypes could be derived from gay identities.[10] Further, one could turn swish on or off, as described in Gay Macho: The Life and Death of the Homosexual Clone:
Modern LGBT rights movement
Most recently, Swish has taken on an empowering and action-oriented meaning within the LGBT rights movement, in part thanks to an organization by the same name. From this point of view, to swish indicates a form of activism that is uplifting, rewarding and fun, and creates opportunities for straight allies to become active in the LGBT civil rights movement.[11]
See also
Further reading
- Swish: My Quest to Become the Gayest Person Ever by Joel Derfner, Broadway Books, 2008.
Notes and References
- Web site: swish definition, meaning. dictionary.cambridge.org. Cambridge Dictionaries Online. 20 February 2015. swish noun [C] (LIKE A WOMAN) › US slang disapproving a man who behaves or appears in a way that is generally considered more suited to a woman, and who does not have traditional male qualities.
- Web site: swish - Gay Slang Dictionary. 28 February 2015. swish #n. To overplay or over do homosexual gestures; the traits of an effeminate male homosexual. Source: [1930's] #Passive homosexual. #To walk speak or move in the manner of an weak effeminate boy or man; the stereotype effeminate homosexual.. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402124519/http://www.odps.org/glossword/index.php?a=term&d=8&t=11636. 2 April 2015. dead.
- Stanley, J. P. (1974) "When We Say 'Out of the Closets!'" College English, 36, 7.
- Kleinberg, Seymour. "unknown article." Christopher Street, March 1978. Cited in Levine 1998.
- Wentworth, Harold and Stuart Berg Flexner. Dictionary of American Slang. Thomas Y. Crowell, 1967.Wentworth and Flexner define swish as a noun meaning "a male homosexual, esp. one with obviously feminine traits"
- Web site: Definition of "Nelly" by Oxford Dictionaries Online. https://web.archive.org/web/20130914005645/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/american_english/nelly. dead. September 14, 2013. .oxforddictionaries.com. Oxford Dictionaries Online. 23 February 2015. 2. offensive An effeminate homosexual man..
- Sonenschein 1969; cited in Levine 1998
- Tripp 1975, 180-182; cited in Levine 1998
- (Warren 1972, 1974; Helmer 1963, both cited in Levine 1998)
- Loftin, Craig M. "Unacceptable mannerisms: Gender anxieties, homosexual activism, and swish in the United States, 1945-1965." Journal of Social History 40, no. 3 (2007): 577-596.
- Web site: Straight Gals Dish on Why Gays make Great Pals . 2010-08-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110708150753/http://chelseanow.com/articles/2010/06/22/arts/doc4c1be6877c92b056124509.txt/ . 2011-07-08 . dead .
