Look at the meaning behind "Fag Hags"

A woman that hangs out with gay men is usually known as Fag Hag. To most people who know what a fag hag is many would consider it an insult ,although some women consider it a great honor. Fag hag was made up in the gay community to give a name to women hanging with gay men. One way the media fag hags was through the show Will and Grace where a women moved in with her gay friend who was a lawyer. Will and Grace shows that being known as a fag hag is not a horrible thing. During the Gay Rights movement within the Gay male culture as an insult towards women that hung out exclusively with gay men. People look at women who would rather hang out with gay men rather than with straight females like themselves. With negative connation on the word fag hag like the use of fag which is in it self a derogatory word for a gay man. Hag as so is derogatory in the meaning of it is women who is old a considered to be strange. So people make fun of those Females that would rather be in a heteronormative relationship with a gay man rather than have a homonormative relationship with other females.

In the past fag hag was known as a derogative word although over the years some have tried to reclaim it as a positive connotation. In a blog by a woman known as Cheeky Cheeky, the writer attempts to reclaim the word Fag Hag and shape it so it would no longer be known by its negative connotations. “It was on the street in New York City, and the guy did not　mean it as a compliment. Didn't stop me from wearing it like a badge of honor.” (Quinonez). Reworking a word so that it no longer contains any negative connation is a process long and challenging and faces many people that don’t want the word to change. In Labeling Theory it states that “to be labeled a criminal one need only commit a single offence, and this is all the term formally refers to” (Becker 41). Having to go through life under a label make life less enjoyable and more of a struggle than it need to be.

Fag hag from a societal perspective is not always known by people but by what method they learn of the word is the way in which they apply it in their every day life. If an individual raised within a system where as a person learns to apply fag hag as a derogatory word towards straight women that prefer gay men’s company then perhaps they need to understand were the word comes from. While not everyone who learns of Fag Hag in the Negative version will not always use it in that same manner instead maybe they could learn to teach its more positive meaning to others. As Kelly Osborne stated “It wasn't until I googled it after speaking with GLAAD that I found out just how unbelievably offensive it was.”(Osbourne). Osbourne offended many people in the transgender community by using an offensive word “Tranny” that she did not fully understand its meaning.
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/Aternyde2/faghags.html http://gawker.com/5864554/we-need-a-new-word-for-fag-hag
Some women who hang out with mostly gay men, may seem to be seeking a relationship that they can feel safe in. For people to have a relationship they can feel safe in, is something that help spread the phrase fag hag due in part that some women marry gay men. “Gay men are safe, firstly, because there is no sexual threat.” (Cusak) Even though fag hag started as an insult it has evolved within the gay community as a more positive phrase. By having people in the gay community trying to change the way in which individuals in the gay community perceive each other in the world today. “Like so many other terms that once you would only hear in Chelsea or West Hollywood, fag hag has gotten into the mainstream, so if average (read:straight) Americans out there are using it, maybe we need something with a better message.” (Moylan)

Thio, Alex, (2010) In Deviant Behavior, Boston MA, Pearson 39-41
Cusak, Joan, (2012) Fag Hag- A social Analysis, Feb 26 Retrieved from
Moylan, Brian, (2011) Gawker- We need a New Word for “Fag Hag”, Dec 2, Retrieved From
Quinonez, Carmon, (2012) Cheeky Cheeky, Jan 10, Retrieved From
Osbourne, Kelly, (2011) I’m Retiring the Word ‘Tranny’…Will You join Me, Nov 19 Retrieved From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-osbourne/transgender-day-of-remembrance_b_1100542.htmlhttp://www.cheekycheeky.info/2012/01/top-5-ways-to-be-fag-hag.html