The inaugural Jefferson’s Newspaper Reference question was submitted by the curious 13 year old Latino boy that lives in my subconscious.  His name is Martin.  Martin asks, “What’s the deal with the word maricón?  Why does it mean gay?”

Martin, let me tell you right now, I will be using Wiktionary.  Deal with it.

Maricón is derived from marica, the Spanish language word for magpie – an Australian bird.  The base of the word is Maria or Mary (the English word magpie is derived from another variation of Mary, Margaret), with the addition of the suffix -ica, which is diminutive and often derogotory.  In other words, maricón translates into both “littly Mary” and “little bird.”

If you’re into gay bashing and/or Spanish language insults, this may come as no surprise.  Mary is another slang word used to describe gay men — most often used by gay men.  Gay men are also often referred to in terms that suggest aviation — fairy, for example, or another Spanish language word, pajarito, which has a couple connotations.  Pajarito is a diminutive form of pájaro, meaning bird or sometimes parrot.  In Spain, Guatemala, Mexico, and Venezuela, pájaro also means penis.  Thus, pajarito means both little bird and little penis.  Another double whammy.

Now, why are homosexuals so often equated to tiny virginal flying peckers?  I have no idea.  It’s very uncool and someone should get to the bottom of it.

But back to the question.  I promised a solid source to Martin, and my Wiktionary-gleamed musings are not going to cut it.

In Marginalization of alternative gender and sexual identities: The role of normative discursive practices in Chilean society (2005), linguist Sara Balder describes use of the term as such:

A diachronic approach shows that maricón is derived from the proper name Maria. Accordingly, this female origin qualifies the term to connotatively recall feminine gender attributes such as weakness and submissiveness.  Another parallel is that the term indicates submission not only in the social sense, but also in the sense of sexual passivity.  In practice, this term is polysemous, and is primarily used to denote an effeminate and/or homosexual male, making it roughly synonymous with ‘effeminate sodomite’.  I will refer to this primary meaning as (maricón 1).

Additionally, this term can also be used secondarily in reference to a bad, wretched, or harmful person (maricón 2).    The relationship between these two senses can be best explained by the chaining approach (see Lakoff 1987), whereby maricón2  developed as a derivative of some of the characteristics of maricón 1.  The characteristics, specifically, are those that give maricón 1 its negative connotation: maricón 1, which denotes an effeminate homosexual male, is connotatively negative in that homosexuals are considered bad, wrong, weak, deviant, and contemptible by dominant society.  The chaining involved in the relationship of maricón 1 to
maricón 2 can be conceptualized as such:

maricón 1: effeminate passive
homosexual male
↓
effeminacy, passivity, and homosexuality
are bad, deviant, and wrong
↓
a maricón is a bad, deviant person
who commits wrongful acts
↓
maricón 2: a bad, wretched,
or harmful person

The resultant polysemous outcome is that a term used for homosexuals can also be used for other people who are disreputable, odious wrongdoers (maricón 2), even if they have normative gender and sexual orientation.

Read the full text here [PDF].  No mention of magpies, though.

Maricón In the News:  Bill Richardson uses the term on the Don Imus Show, hampering his presidential bid and dampening his reputation as a strong supporter of gay and lesbian rights (2007): link

Maricón In the History: Fidel Castro, preeminent among gay-bashing jerks, allegedley sent his pal, writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, to leaders of both Panama and Spain with one brief spoken message: “Dice Fidel que usted es un maricón” (“Fidel says you are a faggot”): link (hover for citation)