Becky

Coby Mach, local right-wing radio host, says the word 'becky' is racist.

Context; during a recent campus tempest-in-a-teacup, a female undergraduate student, Kaitlyn Mullen, recruiting for the alt-right organization Turning Point USA, was confronted by three members of the UNL community. One of them, Courtney Lawton, a graduate student, called Mullen a 'becky'.

So what is a becky?

First cultural reference I can find is in the quite famous (i.e. I've actually heard of it) Sir Mixalot rap song 'Baby got Back'. It appears that it was a term used in the black community for a white girl. It doesn't seem to be malicious, but maybe it is dismissive.

Later it was used in a crude rap celebration of fellatio, by some chump called Plies. In the eponymous song, 'becky' means both a blow-job and the person giving it. There really isn't a clear racial reference. Warning: don't click on that link if you're easily nauseated.

This confusion over what a 'becky' actually is is quite common. Urban dictionary gives a slew of definitions, from 'a basic bitch' to 'fellatio'. It's quite possible the word means several different things to different people.

So, was it intended to be racist? Only Ms. Lawton could tell us, and she'd likely say 'no'. After all, it was a term uttered by a white woman to another white woman. I suppose that could still be racist, but that's stretching it a bit.

Of course, as an enlightened, sex-positive (ooh, that should be in my profile) libertarian feminist guy, I have absolutely no problem with women who like to give head, even though fellatio (giving or getting) isn't really my thing. So I don't regard it as a pejorative, though it might be a little impertinent. And obvs. I have no problem with people being white. In fact, I quite enjoy it.

So the jury is still out on whether 'becky' used this way is racist, but I'd say, on balance, no.