The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), recently declared that the term “pillow fight” is offensive to LGBTQ+ people and women.
When Politico refereed to a spat between Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg as a “pillow fight,” GLAAD rebuked them claiming the term is an “offensive slur.”
GLAAD’s Director of News and Rapid Response, Drew Anderson wrote in a letter to Politico:
“For women and LGBTQ people at the workplace, hearing phrases like ‘dramatic,’ ‘over the top,’ and even ‘pillow fight’ during office disagreements fosters negative stereotypes and diminishes a person simply because of who they are. Disagreements happen in politics, but using these loaded terms during disputes feed into the sexist and homophobic tropes that simply have no place in our political coverage and rhetoric.”
We would encourage everyone to please be more sensitive and not use microaggressive language toward the LGBT. The term “pillow-fight” clearly fosters a negative stereotype of limp-wristed daisies.
Other, more acceptable terms that should be used as replacements include “tickle-fight,” “sissy-spat,” or “chick squabble.”
Please be more sensitive this Christmas season.
