Glee and Corbett

Ken Corbett’s essay, “Faggot = Loser: Phallic Narcissism as Defense” reminded me of the show “Glee” in which the character, Dave Karofsky overuses the term “faggot.” In the episode “Never Been Kissed,” the homophobic bully ends up kissing Kurt, an openly gay student. This reflects on the idea of homophobia and by using the term “faggot” in order to inflate their masculinity while quelling the anxiety of being homosexual from within. In other words, Karofsky in earlier episodes (and he also continues the bullying after the kiss) felt the need to compensate and establish his hierarchical disposition over Kurt, the smaller, weaker, gay kid.

This also brings up the idea of size in Corbett’s essay. Why is it that there is a cultural standard that size matters, and weaker boys are “faggots”? Masculinity itself was brought into question with Karofsky internally, and therefore because he is already bigger and stronger physically, felt the need to counteract his internal anxiety by taking away the manhood of another. As opposed to Corbett’s patient, Josh, who felt external smallness and defeat, Karofsky feels such emotions internally because he is denying his true sexual identity.