Close Menu
Honi Soit
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • Akinola Davies Jr. on My Father’s Shadow, Namesakes, and Nostalgia: An Interview
    • Into the Blue: Underwater Robots Unveil the Secrets of Norfolk Island’s Deep
    • Ancient Reef Cores Reveal Fragile Future for the Great Barrier Reef
    • Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and Rameau walk into the Oldest Sydney Church
    • The Raftsmen: An Interview with Dr. Chadden Hunter — Sydney Film Festival Exclusive
    • The Anarchy 1138-53: to play or to plunder?
    • The Wrong Gods Review: Sacred Soil and Shifting Futures
    • Romeo & Juliet Review: Where Love Lingers and Time Unfolds
    • About
    • Print Edition
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    • Writing Comp
    • Advertise
    • Locations
    • Contact
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok
    Honi SoitHoni Soit
    Saturday, June 14
    • News
    • Analysis
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • University
    • Features
    • Perspective
    • Investigation
    • Reviews
    • Comedy
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    Honi Soit
    Home»Opinion

    Kiss my fat wog ass

    Wog politics are more than just Adidas and kebabs
    By Bianca FarmakisMay 10, 2017 Opinion 4 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    On a recent episode of The Project, TV personality and self-appointed King of Mykonos, Nick Giannopoulos, shed a unique light on the interplay between comedic discourse and racial slurs, discussing the relevance of the term ‘wog’ in 2017.

    Defined in Australia as an immigrant from Southern Europe, the word is bound by semiotic imagery of hotted up cars, Adidas tracksuits and clubbing with your cousins.

    As Giannopoulos discussed the use of the phrase in contemporary Australia, Peter Hellier questioned, “What is the status of the word in 2017? Is it still offensive?”

    In Australia, the term ‘wog’ originated as a racial slur, widely diffused following a surge in immigration from Europe post-WWII. Characterised by dark features, accents as thick as their hair and lunches with scents so pungent they permeated back across the Atlantic, ‘wog’ was the term used to identify and isolate Mediterranean migrants in a divided Australian society.

    Since migrating in the 1940s, my Yia Yia and Papou reflect on the term as a phrase they only came to understand was riddled with racist undertones long after the first time they heard it. ‘Wog’ was just another one of the slew of words they were yet to comprehend. My parents, however, cite the time ‘wog’ was used to target people as one of the few negative chapters in their Australian story.

    The 1980s, however, marked a shift as ‘wogs’ became recognised as Caucasian Europeans and the phrase adopted a ‘tongue in cheek’ connotation in Australian colloquial discourse. That, or Australia found new races to vilify.

    To answer Peter Hellier’s question, the term ‘wog’, in contemporary Australia, has fetishised being of Mediterranean descent. But that doesn’t make it less offensive or accessible.

    The way it has materialised in entertainment has contributed significantly to the lax culture that surrounds the use of the phrase. In rap music, racial slurs targeted toward African cultures have been reclaimed and appropriately used solely by people of that race, but ‘wog’ didn’t take this path. ‘Wog’ materialised as a punchline at the end of listless, ironic jokes, repeated by a cross-section of cultures. ‘Wog boys’ and ‘Superwogs’ alike united to amplify the prejudicial stereotype and reclaim it comedically. Question is: did the joke stop with wogs or not?

    The phrase has been used both by me and towards me, mostly in an endearing light. As one of the only ethnic girls in my high school (#northshorelife), it was almost a badge of honour that amplified my pseudo-exotic edge — the Messina salted caramel white chocolate in a vat of Connoisseur Vanilla. Frankly, the one time I was called a “greasy wog” did nothing but make me reconsider my skincare routine. I wondered though, in the few times friends have called me a wog as an endearing epithet, how well it would go down if I turned around and used ‘n*p’ or ‘k***’ in the same “friendly” light.

    People (mostly white) have rationalised the use of the term by citing the Caucasian race bracket that wogs fall under. It’s a European slur that can be claimed by all European people. This fails to remember its racist origins for people who are specifically Mediterranean.

    Using the term ‘wog’ falls in this blurred middle ground. It doesn’t bear the same stigmatised use as slurs inclined towards African, Asian and Latino cultures, yet it doesn’t hold the same endearing connotations as terms like “Yankee” or “Pommie”. ‘Wog’ faces a complex duality, both as a pejorative in nature as a ‘pet’ name of sorts.

    Either way, you’re welcome to wear the tracksuits, you’re welcome to smash kebabs. But as far as the status of the word in 2017 is concerned, leave the phrase to us.

    Nick Giannopoulos racial slur racism wog

    Keep Reading

    The Conspiracy of Free Will

    ‘No confidence in the University’s handling of racism’: UniMelb inaugural annual report into racism released

    Liberal Strongholds now Teal Havens?

    A Debate in the Heat of Elections

    Independents Day: How the Teals Could Win Big at the Next Election

    Artificial academia

    Just In

    Akinola Davies Jr. on My Father’s Shadow, Namesakes, and Nostalgia: An Interview

    June 11, 2025

    Into the Blue: Underwater Robots Unveil the Secrets of Norfolk Island’s Deep

    June 11, 2025

    Ancient Reef Cores Reveal Fragile Future for the Great Barrier Reef

    June 11, 2025

    Bach, Handel, Scarlatti, and Rameau walk into the Oldest Sydney Church

    June 11, 2025
    Editor's Picks

    Part One: The Tale of the Corporate University

    May 28, 2025

    “Thank you Conspiracy!” says Capitalism, as it survives another day

    May 21, 2025

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    We Will Be Remembered As More Than Administrative Errors

    May 7, 2025
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok

    From the mines

    • News
    • Analysis
    • Higher Education
    • Culture
    • Features
    • Investigation
    • Comedy
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Misc

     

    • Opinion
    • Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Social
    • Sport
    • SRC Reports
    • Tech

    Admin

    • About
    • Editors
    • Send an Anonymous Tip
    • Write/Produce/Create For Us
    • Print Edition
    • Locations
    • Archive
    • Advertise in Honi Soit
    • Contact Us

    We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The University of Sydney – where we write, publish and distribute Honi Soit – is on the sovereign land of these people. As students and journalists, we recognise our complicity in the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous land. In recognition of our privilege, we vow to not only include, but to prioritise and centre the experiences of Indigenous people, and to be reflective when we fail to be a counterpoint to the racism that plagues the mainstream media.

    © 2025 Honi Soit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Accessibility

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.