My beta (the later-notorious CousinJean, as a matter of fact) threw a fit and said Tara would never, EVER use the word "dyke," and no decent writer should be using it either, etc.
Well I know naught about CousinJean (other than that they've written a lot of Spuffy stories), but I received much the same lecture back in the early-mid '90's when I jokingly referred to myself as a "baby dyke" to a gay friend in his 50's. He was genuinly upset and to him it was tantamont to using the "n" word. And gave him the same "reclaiming" explanation. I'd come out (finally) around '92, joined a lesbian support group where a 60-something grandmotherly type who had just come out as I had cheerfully called herself a "baby dyke"; there was Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For, "dyke detector" (instead of "gaydar") etc etc. I didn't have any "bad" associations with it.
If using "dyke" is bad, then what about the ubiquitous pink triangle symbol reclaimed from the concentration camps? The word "lesbian" comes from the island of Lesbos and sappho but gained currency as a term because of it's use in French 19th century pornography written by men. (I have a friend who hates that term, but only because she thinks it sounds like a disease, not because of the history.) Context is everything.
I wonder if it has anything to do with when (what decade/timeframe) someone came out? I don't know the history well enough but I'm guessing that "dyke" was reclaimed in the '80's alongside "queer"?
Tara replies, "Sweetie, I'm a fag." (I give Stephen DeKnight points for effort, and take them away again for incorrect terminology.)
*nods* I always wondered who spoke up about that (in my head I like to think Amber herself), although the line could have been altered with "dyke" or just "lesbian" and been fine. I'm wondering if it wasn't in the end more of a "cut for time" thing than any.
I very rarely completely chuck out my betas' advice, but in this case, I really felt I would weaken the scene if I changed things.
Good for you. Tara's growing confidence is explicitly her arc (from "I'm trying out some spicy talk" in S5 to "Still having trouble with that cramp? You might want to put some ice on it.") and if she came out in the '90's, as we can assume, then it'd be more odd than not if she didn't use the term at least once.
I've always told my best friend, when I'm reading drafts of her novels, that my opinion is just that, an opinion. (Although I am right 99.5% of the time and she always comes around. *lol*)
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Well I know naught about CousinJean (other than that they've written a lot of Spuffy stories), but I received much the same lecture back in the early-mid '90's when I jokingly referred to myself as a "baby dyke" to a gay friend in his 50's. He was genuinly upset and to him it was tantamont to using the "n" word. And gave him the same "reclaiming" explanation. I'd come out (finally) around '92, joined a lesbian support group where a 60-something grandmotherly type who had just come out as I had cheerfully called herself a "baby dyke"; there was Bechdel's Dykes to Watch Out For, "dyke detector" (instead of "gaydar") etc etc. I didn't have any "bad" associations with it.
If using "dyke" is bad, then what about the ubiquitous pink triangle symbol reclaimed from the concentration camps? The word "lesbian" comes from the island of Lesbos and sappho but gained currency as a term because of it's use in French 19th century pornography written by men. (I have a friend who hates that term, but only because she thinks it sounds like a disease, not because of the history.) Context is everything.
I wonder if it has anything to do with when (what decade/timeframe) someone came out? I don't know the history well enough but I'm guessing that "dyke" was reclaimed in the '80's alongside "queer"?
Tara replies, "Sweetie, I'm a fag." (I give Stephen DeKnight points for effort, and take them away again for incorrect terminology.)
*nods* I always wondered who spoke up about that (in my head I like to think Amber herself), although the line could have been altered with "dyke" or just "lesbian" and been fine. I'm wondering if it wasn't in the end more of a "cut for time" thing than any.
I very rarely completely chuck out my betas' advice, but in this case, I really felt I would weaken the scene if I changed things.
Good for you. Tara's growing confidence is explicitly her arc (from "I'm trying out some spicy talk" in S5 to "Still having trouble with that cramp? You might want to put some ice on it.") and if she came out in the '90's, as we can assume, then it'd be more odd than not if she didn't use the term at least once.
I've always told my best friend, when I'm reading drafts of her novels, that my opinion is just that, an opinion. (Although I am right 99.5% of the time and she always comes around. *lol*)