Is 'The C Word' Sexist?

[Aaron Sylvester]

Look no further than swearing expert Yahtzee, he has used the word "****" when referring to both genders.

Therefore it is not sexist. /thread

But on that note, I also reckon words like "*****" or "whore" aren't sexist either because believe it or not, I've had plenty of guy-friends who have used those words at each other when gaming (and I've found myself occasionally using them too). The words had feminine origins but today they are not used ONLY for females, the usage amongst males is very actually very common (if anyone disagrees, clearly you aren't familiar with gaming circles which tend to be primarily male ).

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

No no, it's actually paying women tribute by acknowledging them with higher impact. Us dick-users are actually envious of how powerful the C word is in many places. Therefore it's sexist towards men XD

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

It's just another symptom of everyone's apparent cunting need to seem super sensitive to the fairer sex all of a sudden.

No one cries havoc and lets slip the dogs of war when someone gets called a Dick.

But no, one rule for male genitalia related profanities, another for female genita.... you get where I'm going.

Also, people in general are far too pissy about swearing. If it offends you, big fucking deal. Your 'quick to offend' nature offends me.

haha loved this post, especially that last sentence, i gotta use that more often XD

 

[Diddy_Mao]

It's one of the few words I kinda hold back on using mainly because I recognize that some folks, even if they don't mind swearing just don't like it.

Personally I think it's a great sounding word, and yeah sometimes it's the only word that fits.

Also, as people have mentioned before, if we can use the terms cock and dick as typically gendered insults without anyone batting an eye, I see no reason why I can't use twat or ****.

 

[solemnwar]

Look no further than swearing expert Yahtzee, he has used the word "****" when referring to both genders.

Therefore it is not sexist. /thread

But on that note, I also reckon words like "*****" or "whore" aren't sexist either because believe it or not, I've had plenty of guy-friends who have used those words at each other when gaming (and I've found myself occasionally using them too). The words had feminine origins but today they are not used ONLY for females, the usage amongst males is very actually very common (if anyone disagrees, clearly you aren't familiar with gaming circles which tend to be primarily male ).

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

No no, it's actually paying women tribute by acknowledging them with higher impact. Us dick-users are actually envious of how powerful the C word is in many places. Therefore it's sexist towards men XD

When guys are calling each other "*****" or other "female" insults they're actually still being sexist towards women. i.e. "don't be a little *****" or "don't be such a pussy" they're saying that they're weaker because of the association with femininity. Femininity = bad, it's "lesser" and thus calling a guy a ***** or a pussy is a way of reinforcing that. Why else do you think it's okay for women to wear suits and ties but when a guy wears a dress it's suddenly the end of the world?

The reason "****" is so bad is because of the duality of how society looks at women's sexuality. A woman's genitals are simultaneously the only good thing about them, and the worst thing about them. So when you're calling a woman a ****, you're insulting her by taking the one thing that society values about women, and turning it against them. When calling a man a ****, well, see above about the "*****" and "pussy" insults. You're insulting a man by putting him on the "lesser" level of women.

Hooray gender politics. Nobody go attacking me now, this is just what I've picked up from various discussions all over the interwubs and the real world.

That being said I totally use the "****" insult liberally. Usually towards my computer, piece of shit that it is lol. It's just such a SATISFYING swear because of the hard "k" in it. Same reason why "fuck" is so good, that nice hard 'k' sound at the end.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Look no further than swearing expert Yahtzee, he has used the word "****" when referring to both genders.

Therefore it is not sexist. /thread

But on that note, I also reckon words like "*****" or "whore" aren't sexist either because believe it or not, I've had plenty of guy-friends who have used those words at each other when gaming (and I've found myself occasionally using them too). The words had feminine origins but today they are not used ONLY for females, the usage amongst males is very actually very common (if anyone disagrees, clearly you aren't familiar with gaming circles which tend to be primarily male ).

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

No no, it's actually paying women tribute by acknowledging them with higher impact. Us dick-users are actually envious of how powerful the C word is in many places. Therefore it's sexist towards men XD

When guys are calling each other "*****" or other "female" insults they're actually still being sexist towards women. i.e. "don't be a little *****" or "don't be such a pussy" they're saying that they're weaker because of the association with femininity. Femininity = bad, it's "lesser" and thus calling a guy a ***** or a pussy is a way of reinforcing that. Why else do you think it's okay for women to wear suits and ties but when a guy wears a dress it's suddenly the end of the world?

The reason "****" is so bad is because of the duality of how society looks at women's sexuality. A woman's genitals are simultaneously the only good thing about them, and the worst thing about them. So when you're calling a woman a ****, you're insulting her by taking the one thing that society values about women, and turning it against them. When calling a man a ****, well, see above about the "*****" and "pussy" insults. You're insulting a man by putting him on the "lesser" level of women.

Hooray gender politics. Nobody go attacking me now, this is just what I've picked up from various discussions all over the interwubs and the real world.

That being said I totally use the "****" insult liberally. Usually towards my computer, piece of shit that it is lol. It's just such a SATISFYING swear because of the hard "k" in it. Same reason why "fuck" is so good, that nice hard 'k' sound at the end.

the only problem i have with that line of thinking is that you have to make alot of assumptions, you have to assume all those things are true about why the person is using it, not to mention it is sexist in itself to automatically assume all those things.

I personally value femininity just as much as masculinity, they are different but equal, the same as my insults, a dick is different from a ****, but they are equal on their sexist meters (hopefully none, but some QQ plebs out there will throw a fit, i'm sure)

 

[Happiness Assassin]

Depends entirely on the context. The word itself has no inherent value either way, but the way in which it could be applied could be sexist.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

When guys are calling each other "*****" or other "female" insults they're actually still being sexist towards women. i.e. "don't be a little *****" or "don't be such a pussy" they're saying that they're weaker because of the association with femininity. Femininity = bad, it's "lesser" and thus calling a guy a ***** or a pussy is a way of reinforcing that. Why else do you think it's okay for women to wear suits and ties but when a guy wears a dress it's suddenly the end of the world?

You're referring to the origins of the words which have almost no relevance guys use them amongst each other today. I'm a goddamn guy, having spent a good chunk of life mixing with other typical gamer guys I would know.

I also bolded the part where you threw in the word "little", you're not getting away that easily implying that those words go hand-in-hand (because they certainly don't)

Trust me when I say that when guys today yell at each other "you *****! you got me killed!" it has NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING to do with a reference to women and is 100% replaceable with anything like "you fuck!" or "you asshole!". Exactly the same deal with the word "pussy" or "wuss" (as we say here), when guys throw those words at each other in gaming or competitive circles they have absolutely no relevance to female genitals or females at all. None. Zip. It's the last thing on our minds. It is 100% intended as a "taunt" directed at a sign of weakness or weak will and is 100% replaceable by "you chicken!" or "you suck!".

I'll tell you when we DO use references to girls as weak when we clearly say "stop being a fucking girl, go top and DEFEND or we lose" - and that call-out is actually rarer than you think, it doesn't really naturally come to our minds as one of the other freely-usable cusses.

I feel people from your agegroup will most likely not understand just how embedded those words can become into people's vocabularies to the point of losing all original meaning/relevance and simply becoming another word for an insult/taunt. Plus I know you're someone who would see sexism in a glass of water, and I'm alright with that, you have a right to opinion

 

[Eternal_Lament]

Canadian here, and I don't really think **** is sexist. I use it as much as any other insult

Such as the following:

Spoiler

dick, cock, asshole, fucker, *****, cocksucker, son of a *****, douche bag, douche nozzle, douche, ************, fucktard, cumstain, cum bucket, smegma, shit head, shit for brains, ball gobbler, cock watcher, and, my personal favorite, knife dick

However, there is a very important clause: I don't say any of this to strangers. Rather, I usually use this when trash-talking or getting upset with my friends, guy or girl. To me, calling any of my friends a **** is perhaps the same as calling them any insult above, because I am aware the limits that my friends have. Further, I see the word as any other word, one that is only really offensive if that's your intent, and one that's only really sexist if that's your end-goal.

Still, I'm also quite aware that my thought on the matter isn't very popular. I may think it's alright, but I know pretty much everyone else around me isn't game (not including my friends of course) As to why though: honestly don't know, or rather I'm not sure why it is this word that is given the category of being sexist when something such as dick or cock are considered rude or offensive at best.

 

[The_Echo]

Like any other insult, I don't believe **** to be gender-exclusive.

That it happens to also be slang for vagina means nothing to me. I don't think that alternate definitions should have implications on each other.

 

[Woodsey]

No. In some cultures it's barely considered pejorative (England)

That's not true, but there's definitely no sexist angle to it over here. I don't even know why you'd call a woman a ****. It's like calling a woman a bastard. Just sounds weird.

I don't really use it all that much, and I'm heavy swearer. I even feel something of a cringe coming on when I hear someone else say it. Besides, twat is where shit's at.

 

[Innegativeion]

OT: "****" can't be a truly offensive word, it starts with a K-sound, which is scientifically proven the most fun sound in the English language!

If you don't believe this person, try saying the word

"cacophony" out loud. Go ahead.

...

Anyway, yeah it's an insult like any other, but I fail to see how it's more gender-oriented than it's male counterpart word "dick", since that word is thrown around like it's going out of style.

 

[Woodsey]

Why else do you think it's okay for women to wear suits and ties but when a guy wears a dress it's suddenly the end of the world?

Pff, perhaps we would if anyone actually made dresses for us.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

**** is sexist? No, not really. If anything, it's less sexist than vagina, which comes from the Latin for 'sheath'. Nice.

 

[solemnwar]

Why else do you think it's okay for women to wear suits and ties but when a guy wears a dress it's suddenly the end of the world?

Pff, perhaps we would if anyone actually made dresses for us.

If I could sew, I would totally make you blokes dresses
I'm sure there are online stores that cater to that market, as well.

And some guys look just so damn pretty in dresses. They rock 'em better than I do. 'scuse me while I huddle in the corner and cry

 

[Phlakes]

No. Sexism (and every other -ism) is about intent. I could say that women are inherently inferior and should be considered slaves to us mighty man-folk, but if I didn't actually mean it (and I don't, mods or offended people) I'm not being sexist. Someone could take it that way, of course, but that would be because they're ignoring my intent.

Words are tools, they aren't anything on their own.

 

[Crystalite]

To me it is one of the strongest insults in the book. I don't even know why, I guess I've just been socialized that way. So if I am so angry that I would use it on someone, I would not care about whether or not I am insulting their gender.
It is not a nice word, it is not supposed to be politically correct.
I find it weird that people think it is okay to insult people, as long as there is no sexism involved.
There are worse things than sexism.
Yes, really.

But in my neck of the woods, "arsehole" is the most popular insult. And no one using it means to imply that having one is somehow a negative trait.

 

[Darken12]

While I can completely agree with "whore" and "slut", I can't quite see the problem with "*****". I guess you could say it gets used more often than male-centric equivalences like "dick", in which case I could understand not wanting to say it, but some insults are gender specific and have diametric opposites (unlike whore or slut) that makes it a little easier for me to let 'em loose.

Eh, it's a loaded word. There was a big hubbub just a couple of weeks ago in some literary circles because an author called a rude woman he met at a con "the *****" and said things like "I imagined winning an award, turning to her and saying 'suck it, *****!'" and similar things. And many bloggers (and fellow authors) pointed out that while the woman was rude and deserved a scathing blog post about her actions, the repeated use of the word "*****" (and other cheap shots and generalisations regarding all womankind) kind of took away from his anger at her actions and instead seemed to give off a misogynistic message.

It's a controversial word, because it is still widely being used to put down women and support misogynistic statements, so it still has distasteful implications. Perhaps some day in the future, it will go the way of "bastard" and we'll be able to use it without evoking oppression.

 

[Hawk eye1466]

No I never considered it sexist, in fact it's almost a complement to me when you call someone a **** just because their doing something you either can't like pull-ups for example, or they are just going so far out of their way to do something it doesn't even have to be something that annoys or bothers you but their so committed to whatever it is no matter how big a time waster or obviously and painfully stupid you just have to admire their persistence.