Finally, this case brings up intersections of gender, sexuality, and culture. Maricon is, after all, a Spanish word, used by Latinos in a culturally specific way. It’s easy for Anglo commentators like me to misconstrue it or take it out of context, or assume it means the same thing as “faggot” means in English. It doesn’t—and that alone tells us a lot about how sexuality and gender are construed in different communities.Sure it's sexist. And it's homophobic too. The point is to suggest that the guy is like a girl, and being a girl is bad. And that's sexist. But what word do they use to suggest that the guy is like a girl? Gay. Or f-g. Or maricon.
At heart, maricon is a term used by two macho cultures, each of which is not so much homophobic as sexist. Really, what was I doing on the sports field back in 1986? I wasn’t homosexual—I was throwing the ball “like a girl”; I was a “pussy,” a sissy, an effeminate man. Maybe maricon’s real target isn’t gays, but women.
So it's still homophobic in that it's intended to knock a straight man by comparing him to a woman, and who else is like a "bad" woman? Gay men.
