Gay vs. Lesbian.

• Cynic wrote on 2012-02-01 00:45
  They both mean the same thing, yet are both still used.
  
  I personally never liked the term 'lesbian'; it sounds like something that would be used just in porn/affiliated with just sexual things. I'm not too sure why such a term was even created in the first place.
  
  I just refer to either males or females as Gay.
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2012-02-01 00:46
  Sapphic. :mad3:
• Cynic wrote on 2012-02-01 00:47

  Quote from Sumpfkraut;757593:

  Sapphic. :mad3:

  
  
  ...The first thing that came to mind was a porn company with that name.
  
  I didn't even know that's what it meant. :fail3:
• Jana wrote on 2012-02-01 00:52
  I actually looked up what it meant when I first encountered that "company"... So now sapphic feels like an even worse word to me too. ;-;
  
  I usually use lesbian, but I've never really thought of it quite that way myself.
• Cynic wrote on 2012-02-01 00:55
  Also, I probably ought to clarify-- that doesn't mean lesbian IS associated with those things (or even more so; the girls who call themselves lesbians), it's just how I personally see it. I can't not hear the word lesbian and then start associating it with porn and all that jazz.
  
  But for some reason, even as a kid, I never liked the term. /shrug
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2012-02-01 00:57

  Quote from Jana;757602:

  So now sapphic feels like an even worse word to me too. ;-;

  
  It's totally the classiest way to call it.
  
  
  
  Why doesn't it get added as an option? :(
• Bride wrote on 2012-02-01 01:14
  i never saw the point in using a different word for females rly
• Claudia wrote on 2012-02-01 01:23
  I was under the impression that you referred to men as 'gay' and women as 'lesbian'.
  
  I think 'gay' could also be used for men and women, though.
• Cynic wrote on 2012-02-01 01:25

  Quote from Claudia;757629:

  I was under the impression that you referred to men as 'gay' and women as 'lesbian'.
  
  I think 'gay' could also be used for men and women, though.

  
  
  Gay has always meant homosexual (man or woman) from what I know. Which is why I was confused as to why lesbian was even created.
  
  @ Sumpy;
  
  I didn't know Sapphic was even an option, so I didn't add it. Can't edit it now. QQ.
• Skye wrote on 2012-02-01 01:43
  I always saw gay is a unisex word, but lesbian was specifically for women. Which left men out, so I dunno what the point was of making the word.
• Rydian wrote on 2012-02-01 02:30
  Well in the absence of gender-specific nouns the adjective lesbian infers gender whereas gay doesn't specifically... But other than that, no real reason. I'd be fine with calling women gay if they wanted.
  
  Also people from the isle of Lesbos tend to not like "Lesbian" being used the way most people use it.
  

  ATHENS, Greece — A Greek court has been asked to draw the line between the natives of the Aegean Sea island of Lesbos and the world's gay women.

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/30/lesbos-residents-sue-gay_n_99405.html
• psyal wrote on 2012-02-01 02:57
  I would just use homosexual and heterosexual, as those convey the same amount of information.
• TA wrote on 2012-02-01 04:30
  The term "gay and lesbian" is used, for instance LBGT (Lesbian, Bi, Gay, Transgender). They have become gender specific. Gay being male, whereas lesbian being female. I tend to shorten lesbian to les, or lesbigay (seems funner at times...), or I use the Japanese - yuri.
  
  Yuri just sounds so much nicer...
• Cynic wrote on 2012-02-01 04:33
  Still, gay is a term not linked to sex. Never really has been. So I'm not sure why they even use lesbian to refer to gay females when gay was more than sufficient enough.
  
  Unless they wanted to make gay females seem special.. which still makes no sense.
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-02-01 04:36

  Quote from Cynic;757818:

  Still, gay is a term not linked to sex. Never really has been. So I'm not sure why they even use lesbian to refer to gay females when gay was more than sufficient enough.
  
  Unless they wanted to make gay females seem special.. which still makes no sense.

  
  Because it's easier to just use "lesbian" as a single word to describe gay women. If gay men could be described in one world like that, I'd use that for them, too.
  
  I don't think the word itself is really associated with porn, not anymore than "gay" is anyway. Some people just don't take lesbians seriously and/or think they're just faking it. That's more than likely to be the main problem.