Observation Journal #5

This is not a new development, but I have taken into greater consideration the names that my friends and I call each other when we are involved in the endless pursuit of a victory in beruit or some other activity in which we are somewhat outside our normal mindset. However, this observation is not strictly limited to playing beer pong or being drunk at a party; we call each other names when we are playing video games, basketball, or in some way competing gainst one another. For instance, when someone misses a shot in beruit, the opponent will usually laugh and call the other a "fag" or a "pussy", names that have no actual relevance when it comes to playing these games. Does missing a shot in a game call for such an insult? Does smoking a cigarette slower than the person you are smoking with require the term "pussy" to be brought into play? I think not. However, when noticing that my friends are the ones using such terms, I find myself using them on a basis that is more than from time to time. I relaize how much I use these words themselves; I find myself "insulting" my friends with such words more than is necessary (and there is no actual necessity in this case). They are used so much that no one is offended any longer; we are numb to the insult of derogatory terms. At the same time, I also relaize how useless and irrelevant they are in the context and that has prompted me to use them much less frequently than I have in the past. Words that subjugate people don't have any place with people who aren't part of those subjugated groups (they don't have any palce in society, for that matter, but far less in a group of drunks who aren't members of the groups those words are mindlessly assigned to). Words such as these have very little meaning to my friends because they have never been used in a way that is meant to make them actually feel less human. They are simply a way to convey that we are displeased with someone sinking the skill shot or beatign someone in a race. But if insulting words are used in such situations, how are they supposed to be eliminated from the larger society?