Breeder is a

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

term coined by

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

people particularly for parents who purportedly over-focus on their children and allegedly abandon their previous friends and lifestyle; or to women who give birth to many children, often with the derisive implication that they have too many offspring. The term is also used by antinatalists to pejoratively refer to anyone who has procreated, an act which they consider immoral. The use of "breeder" in this way is not new. It appears, for example, in

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Du ...

's '' A Modest Proposal'', widely acknowledged as the preeminent English satirical essay, in which Swift repeatedly uses the term. Some parents resent being referred to as "breeders", and feel that the word unduly reduces the process of child-raising to

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

Usage in the LGBT community

The term was part of a 2006 controversy in the heavily gay resort town of

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...

, when petitioners against

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

whose identity was published complained of having been called "breeders". The ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' described the term as "a joking or derogatory slur used by gays to describe heterosexuals". While using the term "breeder" as a descriptive term is not new, the term has increased in use within the last decade mainly due its acceptance by pop culture and specifically youth pop culture. Some heterosexuals have said that the term "breeder" is offensive to straight people and associated it with " heterophobia" or degrading heterosexual lifestyles. However, heterosexuals who do not have children can also be referred to as breeders, simply because they are heterosexual. The term "breeder" has also been used to describe lesbian parents that partake in reproduction. The idea of gay parenting has led some to say that the line between "breeders" and otherwise is less clear, with the idea of

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

families beginning to "breed". The term's connotation is a point of contention within the

LGBT community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and so ...

. The expansion of the term to include parents within the community has created a divide on its meaning. There has been debate over its acceptability, inside and outside of LGBT circles, and whether it is a slur.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Breeder (Slang) Antinatalism Heterosexuality LGBT slang Natalism Pejorative terms for people