Delicious! I don’t think macho Mexicans care much for political correctness. <\/p>\n
New York Times<\/a>: The Mexican soccer star Javier Hern\u00e1ndez, known as Chicharito, has condemned it in a public service announcement. Hashtags have spread to raise awareness of its offensiveness and to try to put an end to it. And after the massacre in an Orlando nightclub popular with gay Latinos, commentators have urged fans to abandon it once and for all.<\/p>\n But still, as is customary when the Mexican national team is playing in an international tournament, it could be heard: the roar of \u201cEeeh \u2026 puto!\u201d by Mexican fans trying to distract the opposing goalkeeper punting the ball upfield.<\/p>\n \u201cPuto,\u201d roughly translated as \u201cmale prostitute,\u201d is a slur often hurled at gay men in Mexico, but fans who chant it say they use it out of the more generalized meaning of \u201ccoward\u201d (or, in the adjective form, simply an unpleasant thing).<\/p>\n On Monday, two days after a gunman killed 49 people in Orlando, Fla., including at least four Mexican nationals, the chant could be heard during Mexico\u2019s match against Venezuela in Houston during the Copa Am\u00e9rica regional tournament, being held in the United States for the first time.<\/p>\n Some people even believe they heard it chanted with a little more gusto, as if in defiance over the criticism of the term.<\/p>\n Mexico\u2019s national team was fined $20,700 in January by FIFA, the world soccer body, over fans\u2019 use of the chant in a World Cup qualifying game against El Salvador in November. In theory, FIFA could move to take away points in the World Cup standings, which could derail the team\u2019s advancement to the 2018 finals.<\/p>\n On Thursday, without mentioning Mexico, Concacaf, the governing body for soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean, issued a statement denouncing \u201cchants or actions that are derogatory or offensive\u201d and said that \u201cthey must be stopped.\u201d It did not mention what action, if any, it would take.<\/p>\n Mexico next plays on Saturday night in a Copa Am\u00e9rica quarterfinal match against Chile at Levi\u2019s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.<\/p>\n In Mexico, the chant is largely seen as much ado about nothing, and penalizing the team over it a sign of political correctness.<\/p>\n Luis Fernando Lara, the editor of the Diccionario del espa\u00f1ol de Mexico (Dictionary of Mexican Spanish), said in an interview that the word derives from a Latin root that means \u201cchild.\u201d In its feminine form, it came to mean \u201cprostitute,\u201d and its male form took that meaning as well, particularly in the gay community. It evolved to mean \u201ccoward\u201d or \u201cscaredy-cat.\u201d<\/p>\n In soccer matches, he said, it is intended simply to insult the goalkeeper, not to call him gay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Delicious! I don’t think macho Mexicans care much for political correctness. New York Times: The Mexican soccer star Javier Hern\u00e1ndez, known as Chicharito, has condemned it in a public service announcement. Hashtags have spread to raise awareness of its offensiveness … Continue reading