It’s all about language on the Virgin Radio Pridecast this week!

Virgin Radio

14 Apr 2022, 11:33

Alex Milsom is back for this week’s episode of the Virgin Radio Pridecast, joined as always by Shivani Dave. This week we’re getting a little bit linguistic, talking about the different ways we can describe our diverse community, and of course ourselves. 

You'll hear from Sophie Holmes-Elliott, a variationist sociolinguist at Queen Mary, University of London, on whether she thinks that words like ‘queer’ can be successfully reclaimed: 

"I think when we see this term ‘queer’ used by the community and for the community, it’s unambiguously positive usually; the context is clear, we know how people are using it and why they’re using it… On the other hand, when it’s used by members who are outside of the community, it’s difficult to tell… Can this be positive or is this actually still being used as a slur? And I think this really tells us something about language - it’s all about positionality…"

Alex and Shivani will also be hearing from author Juno Dawson on why she likes using the term ‘queer’ to describe her identity, and actor Jake Graf on his feelings about the word, as well as how the perception of it has changed: 

"I remember a couple of years ago, when I first started using it, my mother saying to me: 'Oh my God don’t say that darling, that’s an awful word…' And I had to explain to her, actually it’s not, and it’s a very all-encompassing and inclusive word, which to me it feels like… But I know that to a lot of older gay men that I speak to, I wouldn’t use that word around them because I know that for them it is very traumatic and very triggering…"

Finally, they’ll be hearing from chef, author and activist Jack Monroe, on their advice for someone who is struggling to define themselves: 

"Well I wish that somebody had said to me, twenty years ago, that you don’t have to make a fixed choice… You don’t have to tick other people’s boxes or expectations about yourself… This can be a journey for you, you can move through and try on different identities and see what fits you - and nobody has a right to make you feel bad about that…"

You can listen to the latest episode here. 

The Virgin Radio Pridecast is a weekly look back through the archives of Virgin Radio Pride, our fabulous three-month pop-up radio station which ran last summer. Each week, Alex Milsom and Shivani Dave re-live some of the best moments, as well as attempting to continue the great conversations that Virgin Radio Pride started. There are entertaining guests, jaw-dropping stories, and of course loads of the laugh out loud moments and insightful, important discussions which made Virgin Radio Pride so special…