Batty boy

A gay man reappropriating the phrase "batty boy" at Manchester Pride

Batty boy (also spelled batty bwoy), batty man are pejorative sexual slurs used to describe gay, bisexual and effeminate men, or those presumed to be gay and bisexual. The term is a Jamaican Patois abbreviation of the word bottom into batty; "batty boy" is a cognate of the American English "butt boy". Usage is commonplace in some Caribbean cultures where homosexuality is condemned, partially as a result of mainly conservative Christian and Rastafarian beliefs. Sex between men is punishable with up to ten years jail in Jamaica.^[1] The country is seen as one of the most violent towards gay men in particular and in 2006 Time noted it likely was the worst place in the Americas for LGBT people and one of the most homophobic places in the world.^[2][3][4] In 2009, the New York Times reported on the continuing violence including a case where police were helping a male gay-bashing victim by driving him to a hospital when people admonished them for helping a batty boy, whereupon they removed him from the car and loaded him into the trunk instead.^[4]

Many Jamaican musicians have used the term to disparage LGBT people. In one notorious song, "Boom Bye Bye"–which was written by dancehall musician Buju Banton when he was 15 years old in response to the rape of a young boy in Jamaica–advocates violence against "batty boys", including shooting them in the head and setting them on fire:

Boom bye bye, in a batty bwoy head,

Rude boy nah promote no nasty man, dem hafi dead.^[5]

The term was brought to the United Kingdom by post-World War II Jamaican immigrants. The term was further popularised in the United Kingdom by the rise of British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and his portrayal of the character Ali G.^[6] There is even a small following of the term in North America.

A synonymous Jamaican pejorative is chi chi boy or chi chi man. Dancehall artistes T.O.K., in a song by that name, threatened to "bun fire" on gays and those individuals in the company of gays.^[3]

Gay men have begun referring to themselves as "batty boys" or "battymen", in part to reclaim the term and remove the social stigma associated with it.^[3] This is similar to the way that queer is reclaimed in the U.S. In some cultures batty can be used as a simple description of sexual orientation much like gay, or it can be used to be degrading.

Rapper MF Doom's song "Batty Boyz" from his 2009 album Born Like This pokes fun at the latent homosexuality in superhero comic culture. He pokes fun at it with lines such as: "Batman head bobbin slobbin Robins knob".

The hit UK show Beautiful People stars a Jamaican mother who uses the term "Batty Boy" to refer to her son who exhibits effeminate behavior.^[7][8]

References

1. ^ Crimes against gays are mounting in Jamaica and across the Caribbean By Tim Padgett. Wednesday, April 12, 2006.
2. ^ TIME: The Most Homophobic Place on Earth? By Tim Padgett. Wednesday, April 12, 2006.
3. ^ ^{a b c} A glimpse inside the lifestyle of a male prostitute Janice Johnson, Jamaica Observer, December 25, 2006.
4. ^ ^{a b} Homophobia in Jamaica^{[dead link]} Diane Abbott, Jamaica Observer, August 2, 2009.
5. ^ Boom Bye Bye - song lyrics ♪
6. ^ HBO: Ali G - Glossary
7. ^ Subtitles for Beautiful People (UK), episode 1.01: "How I Got My Vase" See index #189. Retrieved 2006-06-10.
8. ^ Subtitles for Beautiful People (UK), episode 1.05: "How I Got My Tongs" See index #109. Retrieved 2006-06-10.

See also

• Bacchá Boy
• Stop Murder Music