Some of us are already familiar with Azealia Banks, the Harlem-born rapper, most likely for the wrong reasons. She has been extremely controversial as of late, growing increasingly familiar for her polemical tweets rather than for her musical achievements. If there’s anything she’s well known for, it’s her public derision and lampooning of fellow celebrities. She’s duked it out with Kreayshawn, T.I., Angel Haze, Lil’ Kim, Lily Allen, Nicki Minaj, Jim Jones, Baauer, Action Bronson, Diplo, Rita Ora, Lady Gaga, Pharell and Iggy Azalea among others over the course of two years.
Despite the extensive assortment of aforementioned names, one of her more contentious spats was with Perez Hilton, an openly gay blogger. While in the midst of one of her many digital arguments with Angel Haze, Banks took the time to attack Hilton and call him a “messy faggot” in response to him vocally supporting her opponent. She defended her choice of wording and tweeted that “a faggot is not a homosexual male. A faggot is any male who acts like a female. There’s a BIG difference,” later explaining that “you can be a straight faggot … faggots are men who want to bring women down, fuck with their heads, control them” in an interview.
She claimed that her attack was not sexually malicious because she is a bisexual woman, explaining that most homophobic comments come from a fear of “catch[ing] the gay,” something that she has “already caught.”
Banks is attracted to women and Hilton is attracted to men, so she’s allowed to call him the f-word, right? Uh, wrong.
Claiming that it is OK to use a gay slur because you are bisexual is an odd, faulty argument. Claiming that it is OK to use a gay slur that is almost always gender-specific because you happen to belong to one of the marginalized groups in the equation is even more harmful. Actually, let me make this crystal clear: It doesn’t make any damn sense at all.
Banks’ identity does not magically absolve her of any guilt — if anything, the issue lies with who she is and what she identifies with. Though faggot is sometimes used to reference both genders, gay men are predominantly the target of the insult, especially in the United States. Banks being bisexual does not give her a pass because she’s a member of the LGBTQ community, nor does it vindicate her because she’s “caught the gay.” Slurs are harmful words that are meant to mock negative properties, chiefly when used by those who do not belong to the identity group in question. Banks is not a gay man and therefore does not have the justification to include faggot in her vocabulary.
Banks is certainly a provocateur — she lives to hurt feelings and ruffle feathers, which would explain why she approached the backlash regarding her comments in such a peculiar way, practically flipping the switch on her audience and beseeching us to figure out why we’re mad and she’s not. She is brash, unapologetic and I can’t help but wonder if she is purposefully pushing these arguments to force us into thinking. One thing is certain, however. Calling Hilton the f-word has left quite a blemish on her career and for good reason — using pejoratives toward communities you do not belong to and identities you do not align with will always be indefensible.