Is 'The C Word' Sexist?

[Mr F.]

I don't understand how using it on your guy friends suddenly makes it not sexist. Doing that is basically telling them "You have/are the genitals of a woman and that is insulting".

Snip.

Freaking THANK YOU.

You're welcome. I study sociology and one of my key interests is identity and gender and whatnot. Both of my parents were linguists (Well, my mum still is. My late father is not really any more, what with being my late father. Unless he is a zombie linguist. That would be awesome) and I am very interested in the evolution of words. I find it really, really annoying how some people seem to think that because context matters a lot, content does not. No matter the context, some content is sexist, homophobic, racist, whatever. And hell, as people are seemingly willing to accept, in some contexts innocent words BECOME sexist, homophobic, racist or whatever. It works both ways.

It seems strange that people are willing to accept one and not the other. I genuinely find it hard to understand that people can spend their entire lives using words without realising that both the word, and the context, have meaning and that neither is devoid of the other. Yes, meanings evolve and everything, but words have histories and histories must be taken into consideration. Just because "******" used to mean a small bundle of sticks and has multiple meanings does not mean that it is not currently a homophobic term.

Yet I am preaching to the choir right now.

 

[hazabaza1]

People say that? Hah, silly cunts.
But srsly it's a mean thing to say sure but I wouldn't say it's sexist.

 

[Easton Dark]

I actually don't use **** in my litany of angry swearing, I guess I just don't like the way it sounds, very harsh, like the German language. And I did not grow up hearing it, because I'm not from your grand ol' Cuntries.

Yeah it is, as much as dick is.

 

[The Funslinger]

I'm not going to mill around. This thread is about the word ****.

I've seen a lot of people get incredibly offended by the word **** being used as an insult. Obviously, it's a very strong word, but the people who dislike it that much usually say that it is sexist. Being British, I believe these people to be wrong, but I would like some bloody Yanks to explain to me how sexist it really is over there, for I have heard conflicting reports.

Any people of differing nationalities may also give perspective on how **** is used in their nation.

I'm also British, and I don't consider it sexist. I do think it's quite a strong insult though, and it's one I generally reserve for people who I feel truly deserve it(i.e. politicians).

I, too am from God's own ****-ryside, and I've no problem with the word either.

It's vulgar, sure, but at the end of the day, it just refers to a vagina. It's slang with no inference beyond its base meaning, so it really can't be sexist. It's not like use of the word '****' goes on to imply all women are whores, or that they're sex objects. It's just vulgar, and the closest thing to a sexist aspect of it is that there isn't really a word on the same scale of blunt harshness to describe a dick. Which is a none issue, really.

 

[Apollo45]

Really? I didn't think anyone took that word seriously, most everyone I know doesn't even consider it to be a real insult, something smaller then "Idiot" Strange.. I live in Colorado though, Maybe its a regional thing? People call each other cu##s and other various words all the time for $$$$s and giggles (I'm 25 so its not like I'm in middle school or something) my self though, I never use the word... it just sounds stupid to me, like a half assed attempt at a insult. I'm truly intrigued that anyone finds it offensive at all.
(Edited for Respect for others)

Same here, on about all of it. It's never been an insult to anyone I know, and we throw it around like ***** or dick. I was genuinely surprised to find it considered one of the "worst" words to use (which for me was only a year or so ago). So maybe it is a Colorado thing (I'm from here too)... That would be something interesting to find out.

 

[tofulove]

i once use the word **** in front of a woman, i did not call her it. i was saying a male friend of mine was a ****. she proceeded to freak out on me like i was the child of satan. down the road shes calling some one a dick and an asshole and i was like wtf. i don't think the word **** is any more sexist than any word relating to penis or but. our society likes to turn every word for our genitals into bad words. is it wrong yes. do i use them... yes.

 

[wulf3n]

Well, I live in Australia. Here it is not uncommon for good friends to call one another cunts on leisure.

Good ol' Austarlia.

Were we call our friends cunts and our enemies mate.

 

[SadisticFire]

In my opinion **** is just another insult that lost value over time. You don't call some one sexist for calling another guy(or girl) a dick, it's just an insult. So either using the term dick is sexist(if that is the case, jeeze I'm so anti man that I don't have a metaphore.) or **** isn't sexist. I also have NEVER seen anyone use **** in my life seriously, for some odd reason. I guess it might be sexist based off context?

 

[V8 Ninja]

I don't mean to be a DICK, but if you call someone a **** suddenly you're SUPER SEXIST GET THE FUCK OUT

Your avatar kinda makes this comment hilarious.

ANYWAYS: The way I see it, being sexist is discriminating woman. If you call both men and woman by their specific derogatory terms equally with no thought as to their gender (outside of getting your terms right), then I don't see too much of a (sexism) problem. However, if you're respecting most men and insulting most women (or vice versa), then you're probably sexist.

 

[unbreakable212]

No it's not sexist, possibly one of the more offensive swear words, but being British whenever I meet my friends it's usually used in a greeting.

 

[DugMachine]

I wouldn't say so. Nor is calling someone a dick.

**** is probably one of my favorite swear words but I use it sparingly. You have to do something pretty awful for me to call you a ****, whether you're a guy or girl.

 

[omega 616]

**** is a strong insult? I didn't know one insult was more impactful than another. Is being called a dick better than being a ****? Where does tit go on this scale? Is arse/ass worse or better than tit, dick or ****?

Which body part is the worst to be called?

Anyway, I think this is the same people who say "hate is a strong word" but if hate is a strong word, then so is love but you always hear people say stuff like "I love this song" or "I love this food" ... so love you can throw around but hate is when you have to slow down and consider some stuff?

I mean, if your throwing insults around it's for 1 of two reasons. 1) you're just having some banter, in which case **** is kind of boring 'cos funnier is obviously better. 2) you're wanting to cause offense or hurt somebody and there are much better ways of doing that than resorting to childish insults like ****.

Has anybody ever been offended by such an insult? Like somebody called you a **** and you had to excuse yourself while fighting back tears? No, you just fire back a different one word insult.

 

[DevilWithaHalo]

I'm not going to mill around. This thread is about the word ****.

I've seen a lot of people get incredibly offended by the word **** being used as an insult. Obviously, it's a very strong word, but the people who dislike it that much usually say that it is sexist. Being British, I believe these people to be wrong, but I would like some bloody Yanks to explain to me how sexist it really is over there, for I have heard conflicting reports.

Any people of differing nationalities may also give perspective on how **** is used in their nation.

It's sexist because the word references the female genetalia in the negative.

That however assumes one's intent behind the use of the word, which is the crux of the matter; not the word itself. I have called a woman a **** before with positive connotations.

The following are examples of sexist remarks...
"You have a delicious ****."
"Go suck a cock."
"Life's a dick, when it gets hard; fuck it."
"He must be compensating."
"Why are you such a douche?"
"That shit is the tits!"

Are all these sexist? Sure. Are all these negative? No. Is sexism always negative? No. Then why does it matter if something is sexist? Because of bunch of assholes (gender neutral) like bitching (female specific) about junk (male specific).

 

[Amanda Diamond]

The word itself? No. It's the context behind it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLkKmKWwUIs&list=UUJm5yR1KFcysl_0I3x-iReg&index=131

 

[Evil Smurf]

How can a cunting word be sexist? I'd twat you one if I could not think of another word that means vagina.

Words are not sexist, context can be sexist however.

 

[Feylynn]

Don't think it's sexist, don't consider it a very strong insult either.
It's mechanically indistinguishable from other related words such as dick or ass in my mind.

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

The following are examples of sexist remarks...
"You have a delicious ****."
"Go suck a cock."
"Life's a dick, when it gets hard; fuck it."
"He must be compensating."
"Why are you such a douche?"
"That shit is the tits!"

Are all these sexist? Sure. Are all these negative? No. Is sexism always negative? No. Then why does it matter if something is sexist? Because of bunch of assholes (gender neutral) like bitching (female specific) about junk (male specific).

Sorry, I'm a little confused on how a few of those are sexist. A little crude maybe, but I can't physically see how "You have a delicious ****." is sexist. "You have a tastey vagina" Is nothing but a compliment, surely? even the opposite, "you have a disgusting vagina" isn't sexist. It's not saying "you are X (derogatory) because of Y (gender)" It's just stating a fact. Same goes for "That shit is the tits!" tits are fantastic, as a huge percentage of the population will tell you! Not sure, on why saying so, is sexist. They're both more gender specific, sure, but not sexist. They're not the same thing.

Also, "Douche" I'm mainly more confused about this one because I don't know what one is, ha ha. I'm from England and douche isn't really used here (or at least to my knowledge) Isn't it a contraption used for DIY enemas, or something along those lines?

Sorry, not being an ass towards you. Just cuntfused a little by your post.

 

[FalloutJack]

F?

Odd name.

Listen, people are thrown out of whack by mere words way too often. Forget context for a moment. We shouldn't even BE so freaky-outy over this shit. The word does not outperform the deed, though. If someone gets raped, that's WAY more sexist than calling someone a ****. No offense, but it makes logical sense to me.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

You have to be fair if you want to call it sexist.

If the word "dick" isn't sexist to you, then the "c-word" shouldn't be to you, either, for instance.

Always wondered why "****" is considered terrible, yet the same very people likely use the word "dick" in a derogatory way at the same time. Never understood the difference.

New thread, is it sexist that **** is considered sexist but dick isn't?

Well you could say that it's worse to call someone female genitalia than male and therefore that's sexist towards women xD

That said, it's not a big deal, like people using the word 'gay' I don't think the vast majority actually mean to be homophobic. The insult is sexist but I'd say it's barely used in that way.