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Gammon has become a popular term on social media to describe the rosy complexion of outraged middle-aged people in the UK. Shutterstock/DronG
Gammon Gate
This is why the word 'gammon' is cooking up trouble in the UK
The insult has gained prominence after an article reported some were saying it was a racial slur used by those supporting Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to attack middle-aged men.
YOU MIGHT THINK of gammon as the bottom piece of a side of bacon, but the word has a new context in the UK.
The term ‘gammon’ is being used to describe the complexion of angry middle-aged white people.
The bacon-based insult was popularised by younger voters during the 2017 UK general election to describe a red-faced white male, usually ranting about Brexit and immigrants.
Gammon has since taken over the UK press, with analysis pieces appearing in most publications.
A recent article in The Times UK claims that it is supporters of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn using the term to attack middle-aged men.
The phrase is seen as a response by the left to the term ‘snowflake’, which describes an millennial who’s easily offended.
The gammon and snowflake clash has highlighted the division that still remains between the generations following the Brexit vote.
According to the BBC, gammon gained momentum as an insult in 2017, when a Twitter user posted a collage of contributors to the programme Question Time, with the phrase ‘Great Wall of Gammon’.
Since then many people in the UK have spoken out against the term, describing it as derogatory and even racist towards older white people.
Democratic Unionist Party MP Emma Little-Pengelly has backed the claims of racism, saying she was appalled by the used of the word.
Columnist for the Guardian, Owen Jones, recently wrote that affluent white men are not a race and that white people mocking other white people over their skin colour is not racism.
That right wingers are now pushing the use of the word ‘gammon’ as racism is an age-old example of how the privileged crave a sense of persecution, that they can target genuinely oppressed minorities while claiming they are the real victims.”
This opinion has been echoed by on social media, with many make light of the outrage.
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The debate surrounding the term gammon might seem benign but in a piece published today by Ben Davis, he explains how this debate is an insight into how online conversations are going.
As Davis coined the term gammon, we will leave the last word to him.
Ultimately, though, what started out as a daft meme has become just another weapon in Twitter’s never-ending culture war. The right will call you “cucks”, the left will call you “gammons”, nothing will change and I will sit back and realise that even though I have had seven books published, my biggest impact on popular culture is noticing that some blokes looked like salty meat. I think I need another drink.”
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