Batty boy

Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAT : Batty boy

Batty boy, battyman and chi chi man are derogatory terms used in Jamaica, Belize and the rest of the Anglophone Caribbean to describe gay men. The term is a Jamaican abbreviation of the word bottom into batty; "batty boy" is a cognate of the American English "butt boy". Usage is commonplace in some Caribbean cultures where homosexuality is condemned, partially as a result of Christianity as well as Rastafarian beliefs (mainly in Jamaica).

Many Jamaican musicians have used the term batty boy in describing hatred of homosexuals. In one notorious song, reggae musician Buju Banton advocates violence against "batty boys" in his song "Boom Bye Bye":

Boom Boom bye bye, in a batty bwoy head,

Rude boy nah promote no nasty man,

Dem hafi dead.

The term was brought to the United Kingdom by the post World War II Jamaican immigrants and is now popular among the young Britons. The term was further popularised in the United Kingdom by the rise of British comedian Ali G. Batty can be used as a simple description of sexual orientation much like the word "gay", or it can be used to be degrading. Ali G however referred to the more popular and correct spelling of bhatti boy.

Recently, some homosexual men have been referring to themselves as "batty boys" or "battymen" in order to take the stigma away from the term. This behaviour is similar to the way homosexual men in the United States refer to themselves as "queer" or a "fag".

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