Stop gender shaming
By Davie Wong, Sports Editor
Every year, the English dictionary is expanded with popular slangs and terms that grew to common use. Last year, it was the word âtwerk,â a popular dance. This year, the word could be âfuckboy.â But what is a fuckboy?
Fuckboy is something that keyboard warriors all over the world have been debating for a little less than a year. The general consensus is that a fuckboy is a male individual who attempts to befriend women for the purpose of extorting sexual favors or indecent images. By that definition, it is easy to see how this word rose to popularity. With the concept of online dating constantly growing, so is the number of online predators. The word fuckboy could be used to differentiate online male predators from the general population of men that use online dating tools. In that case, the slang makes sense.
However, that isnât the case. Like many forms of slang, the word fuckboy has diverged from its original definition. What was originally used to quickly share knowledge of online predators between peers has quickly evolved into a blanket term for men that are interested in sexual relationships. In many ways, it has become the replacement for the early 2000âs slang âplayer.â What it has evolved to doesnât bother me. What bothers me is that it is shaming promiscuous men. The word fuckboy is now more commonly used as an aggressive label for men that enjoy casual sex, not to identify online predators.
For so long now, we, as a society, have fought against shaming women for being sexually expressive. Why is it now that men can be shamed for their desire to do the same? Is that not a double standard? If the end goal of every fight for equality is for true equality, then we need to get rid of words that shame not just women, but men as well. Words like fuckboy are steps backwards to that goal.
But what if I told you there was an easy fix for all the shaming and all the hurt that people put out in this world? There really is. Stop empowering it. Words like fuckboy get their power from the masses. What looks like a simple childish term has evolved and became a tool used to shame men. The way to stop it is to stop using it. It seems like a simple solution, and it is. Similar to how we try to stop shaming women with words such as slut and whore, we need to stop shaming men with words as well.
It all has to start somewhere, so why not start with you. Stop using the word fuckboy. Stop giving it the power to shame men. Stop shaming anybody. Build a world where people are not afraid to be themselves, no matter who they are. Put a stop to the hate. Tell your friends that fuckboy is not an okay word. Itâs not okay to shame anyone, and that includes men. Because the last time I checked, man or woman, weâre all human.
