I just wanted express something that’s been on my mind for a while.
When I hear people use the word “naughty” in a sexual context, it bothers me. As gay men, a lot of us carry around deep-rooted shame, much of it relating to sex and sexuality. There’s no reason for it; it’s learned and it’s toxic. We should do everything we can to fight that and free ourselves from it.
The word naughty is used a lot when referring to sexy stuff: “I’m going to be a naughty Santa!” “What naughty underwear!” “You’re such a naughty boy!”
The three definitions of “naughty” in Webster are:
- (especially of children) disobedient; badly behaved.
2. (informal) mildly rude or indecent, typically because related to sex.
3. (archaic) wicked
Now, clearly, the second one is where most people are coming from when they use the word “naughty ” like this– but all of these have a negative connotation, and our brains are likely to blur these meanings together. So, it makes it sound like we’re inherently doing something wrong and worthy of punishment by being sexual or thinking sexually–the most natural thing in the world. If we’re going to call sexual things or thoughts “naughty,” should we just flagellate ourselves with a cat o’ nine tails every time we get aroused?
This is just my personal opinion. If you love using the word “naughty” in a sexual context, fine. I’d just prefer you don’t do it around me. The only time it doesn’t bother me is if it’s clearly being used in an ironic, sarcastic, overtly humorous sort of way. But only people who are genuinely funny can pull that off.
Lastly, I’ll leave you with some GIFs I like. Please for the love of all things sacred, don’t call them “naughty.” That grinds my gears to no end. Just call them hot.
This post was created by one of our Contributing Writers and does not reflect the opinion of Instinct Magazine or the other Contributing Writers when it comes to this subject.
Self-righteous prick. Is this why instinct gives morons like this a platform. Get a blog and stop using this magazine for such rubbish
Don’t be such an asshole. I abhor the word “queer” as an umbrella term for the LGBT+ community but I keep seeing people trying to reclaim this toxic sludge of a word. You don’t write articles about that.