1 year, 9 months ago
Will the definition of the word 'gay' never be happy again?
I was a little shocked to find out that an Australian school principal is asking kids to substitute the word 'gay' with the word 'fun' in their famous children's song 'Kookaburra'.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/02/australian-school-drops-g_n_703714.html
Do you think that in another 20 years, this word will only be defining a sexual orientation?
Are there any other children's songs or nursery rhymes have been changed in the name of political correctness or policy?
Would you want to change a song just because of an additional definition added later on?
*I loved singing this song when I was a kid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KOOKABURRA
(Marion Sinclair - Australian Children's Song, 1936)
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That's not a monkey, that's me!
EXTRA VERSES:
Kookaburra flies from the old gum tree
Flapping his wings for all to see
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Flying oh so free
Kookaburra lands in the old gum tree
Fluttering his wings for all to see
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Happy as can be!
Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail
Gets a boo-boo in his tail
Cry, Kookaburra! Cry, kookaburra!
Oh how life can be!
Kookaburra sits on the electric wire
Jumping up and down with his tail on fire
Ouch, Kookaburra, ouch!
Kookaburra, hot your tail must be!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/02/australian-school-drops-g_n_703714.html
Do you think that in another 20 years, this word will only be defining a sexual orientation?
Are there any other children's songs or nursery rhymes have been changed in the name of political correctness or policy?
Would you want to change a song just because of an additional definition added later on?
*I loved singing this song when I was a kid.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KOOKABURRA
(Marion Sinclair - Australian Children's Song, 1936)
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Gay your life must be
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me
Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That's not a monkey, that's me!
EXTRA VERSES:
Kookaburra flies from the old gum tree
Flapping his wings for all to see
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Flying oh so free
Kookaburra lands in the old gum tree
Fluttering his wings for all to see
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
Happy as can be!
Kookaburra sits on a rusty nail
Gets a boo-boo in his tail
Cry, Kookaburra! Cry, kookaburra!
Oh how life can be!
Kookaburra sits on the electric wire
Jumping up and down with his tail on fire
Ouch, Kookaburra, ouch!
Kookaburra, hot your tail must be!
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M$1 Answer
When I was in high school, I had a techer that pointed out that he believed that every term under eight letters long in the English language will eventually be used at some point as a defaming word of some type of person. He then started writing words on the blackboard that were used as defaming words, and filled the board when he pointed out that he had another forty to go.
As for the word, "gay," as long as the homosexual community uses the term, "gay," to describe themselves, it will continue to be used the way that it is now. Remember that the gay community no longer consideres the term as defmatory, but as a descriptive adjective.
As for schools that would change the terminalogy of a song in a case where the word, "gay," is used, shouldn't they jump on the fully PC bandwagon and ban any word that could be used to defame a community? Maybe they should trhow out all of the, "black," crayons. Maybe they should stop serving, "crackers," in the cafateria. They should go into the school library and toss all of the children's books that have, "fairies," in them. While they are at it, maybe they should....
As for the word, "gay," as long as the homosexual community uses the term, "gay," to describe themselves, it will continue to be used the way that it is now. Remember that the gay community no longer consideres the term as defmatory, but as a descriptive adjective.
As for schools that would change the terminalogy of a song in a case where the word, "gay," is used, shouldn't they jump on the fully PC bandwagon and ban any word that could be used to defame a community? Maybe they should trhow out all of the, "black," crayons. Maybe they should stop serving, "crackers," in the cafateria. They should go into the school library and toss all of the children's books that have, "fairies," in them. While they are at it, maybe they should....
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
I hit best answer by mistake! Your answer was great, but I encourage more people to comment!
You can make that mistake any time you want to in the future when I answer your questions.