Teen 'Horrified' By Use of Word 'Gay' In Apple Diction

[hh5]

hahaha a strong letter to google is needed also

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=gay&oq=gay&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l3j69i65l2.3269j0j8&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8#es_sm=122&espv=210&q=gay+define

 

Apple takes heat over insensitive dictionary entry for 'gay'

Apple's stock Dictionary app is in the spotlight this week after a Massachusetts teen took issue with a derogatory definition of the word "gay." But not every Mac shows the same definition — and, of course, Apple didn't write the entry, it just licensed it.

 

Becca Gorman, a 15-year-old tenth grader in Sudbury, Mass., was doing research for a paper on gay rights, and had decided to look up the word "gay" in her MacBook Pro's built-in Dictionary application, according to a report in the MetroWest Daily News. To her dismay, among the definitions was the following:

 

informal foolish; stupid: making students wait for the light is kind of a gay rule

 

 

This is, in fact, common usage, but the issue is that it wasn't given the "offensive" or "derogatory" tags found in other places inside the dictionary database. Gorman, struck by this as potentially a tacit endorsement of this sense of the word, took the matter to her parents, who happen to be a lesbian couple. They encouraged her when she decided to write an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook, which read in part:

 

I assume that you are a pro-gay company, and would never intend for any one of your products to be as offensive as this definition was. Even with your addition of the word informal, this definition normalizes the terrible derogatory twist that many people put on the word “gay”. ... When I look at this definition it makes this hatred filled use of the term as something as okay as “dude”. 

 

I am asking for you to remove this definition from the Dictionary you are promoting, or to make a significant change to it. I also think it would be a good idea to apologize to the gay community, a good amount of your customers. Thank you for your cooperation, I love your products.

 

Apple has indeed been quietly but reliably gay-friendly, providing company benefits to same-sex couples and lobbying against California's Proposition 8, among other things.

 

According to MetroWest, which republished Gorman's letter, an Apple representative called the teen's home just an hour after the email was sent, and told her the company would be looking into it, though nothing official has been announced, nor have any updates been issued.

---

 

"I feel like we're going to have to make a bigger deal about it before they actually act on it," she said.

A call to the company was not returned before the Daily News's deadline. The third definition was still coming up in newer versions of Apple's dictionary as of Monday afternoon, although the app in the company's latest mobile operating system, iOS7, did include the description "often offensive."

 

 

[wildone]

Apple released the iOS7 back near the beginning of September and it obviously corrected the problem which could admittedly be considered an oversight on the suppliers side.

 

Why does this need to be brought up now???

[hh5]

Its about a kid who has lesbian parents who found the offence

 

so you not worried about kids or gay parent being offended like this

 

==> gay parents means gay(informally foolish; stupid) parents

 

Straight kids would take the definition at face value

 

try checking your apple dictionary app

I think the supplier of the dictionary going to get hell to pay

 

The dictionary isn't it online?

apple n google needs to have the supplier update the problem

Edited November 18, 2013 by hh5

[wildone]

And once again, you don't have an Apple, so you can't check it to see if it does or not. Like I said, the issue is in the past. No need to post just another story you found on the internet about a product that you don't like.

[methodwriter85]

  please delete

Edited November 17, 2013 by methodwriter85

[iSimba]

Actually my apple dictionary still has that definition listed for my mac.

 

gay |gā| adjective ( gayer , gayest )

1 (of a person, esp. a man) homosexual: that friend of yours, is he gay?

• relating to or used by homosexuals: feminist, black, and gay perspectives.

2 lighthearted and carefree: Nan had a gay disposition and a very pretty face.

• brightly colored; showy; brilliant: a gay profusion of purple and pink sweet peas.

3 informal, often offensive foolish, stupid, or unimpressive: making students wait for the light is kind of a gay rule.

 

Not that I'm really all that concerned about it.

Edited November 17, 2013 by iSimba

[W_L]

It's accurate though why change it?

 

My mac defines it the same, but it is not a real issue.

 

Besides urban dictionary is far more offensive

[Gene Splicer PHD]

Because people who look for reasons to be mad about silly things often look silly themselves...

 

Silly people.

[Y_B]

This topic is gay...

 

(now while on topic actually, I wanna say that now that I think about it, I'm hearing 'gay' used as the 3rd definition a lot less often than before....anyone else noticed the same? It's like it just died, nobody says it anymore...or maybe I'm just in a different environment now, I don't really know)

[hh5]

a link to a debate is-it-wrong-to-use-the-word-gay-as-a-derogatory-adjective

65% Say Yes

35% Say No

 

[Sympathia]

I think the GLBT "community" faces far greater problems than that to be honest, it's just another minor detail somebody choses to make a huge fuss about for whatever reason. Sure it would be nice if it was removed, but I wont lose any sleep over it and Apple as a whole is pretty gay-friendly so I see no reason for rage.

[Cia]

This sort of thing really is moot. The issue boils down to this: Those who are capable of looking up the word and taking in the nuances of the definition are all old enough to understand the social connotations. At that point they are either 1) aware that it is an offensive use of the term and shouldn't be used or 2) use it already and don't care.

 

Also Yang, I agree. I used to hear this term on the playground or halls of the elementary school when staff wasn't around quite a bit more, even so recent as 5 years ago when my daughter entered kindergarten. It was sad to hear that sort of talk from kids that young. Recently it has definitely passed from popular use but I think in a lot of ways that is because the 'accept others and do not use disrespectful terms' has become a major component of their yearly lessons from the guidance counselor about socially acceptable behavior.

[Y_B]

Recently it has definitely passed from popular use but I think in a lot of ways that is because the 'accept others and do not use disrespectful terms' has become a major component of their yearly lessons from the guidance counselor about socially acceptable behavior.

 

I don't think that's the reason in this case. Sure, I think we're doing an overall better job at teaching acceptance and people are becoming more accepting of all kinds of kinds but using "gay" to equate "bad" is just dying the same way I think any trend term dies with time....like how nobody says groovy or rad anymore.\

 

Edited November 18, 2013 by Y_B

[Fishwings]

I don't think that's the reason in this case. Sure, I think we're doing an overall better job at teaching acceptance and people are becoming more accepting of all kinds of kinds but using "gay" to equate "bad" is just dying the same way I think any trend term dies with time....like how nobody says groovy or rad anymore.

 

I think it's a combination of both, but I'd say too that's it more of a trend thing. Either way it's good that I don't really hear that term being thrown around anymore either!

[Henry_Henry2012]

HAHAHA. I just checked my apple dictionary in my laptop and they changed the "Is he gay" question with a "gay bar". I can't believe a 15 year old noticed this. Our younger generation is starting to become conscious of these things, which makes me smile.