Is 'The C Word' Sexist?
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It all depends on context. There was a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where Larry David raised a good point: "I say prick all the time and that's not sexist." I find it somewhat sexist when a guy is called a pussy (though admittedly it's an aesthetic complaint - not a fan of the way that word sounds). That suggests that men are supposed to act a certain way and that type of behavior is associated negatively with female genitalia. I happen to like female genitalia a lot and I really don't like negative connotations attached to it. "****" is already kind of an ugly sounding word and I don't feel like it's used to describe body parts as much as it's used to describe people. A **** can be a mean woman, a whiny man, or just a general jerk. It seems to transcend gender and isn't directly tied to an annoying stereotype like weakness. Meanwhile, dicks and pricks are always men.
People say it's sexist because it turns the female genitals into an insult, but then no-one ever says 'dick' is sexist towards men, so whatever.
Personally I like to judge people by their intentions rather than their language. If they were trying to be sexist, it's sexist. If they weren't, it's not.
Personally I like to judge people by their intentions rather than their language. If they were trying to be sexist, it's sexist. If they weren't, it's not.
Words only have as much power as society/government/you gives them-if you stop caring about it by letting it be said often enough the word loses all meaning-the lesson dear children that this teaches us is the following:want to undermine the word let people use it.
But I digress that's more on the power of words not on if they are sexist,so in this case-it depends Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex for the word to be sexist it would have be used specifically to single out and target the gender it applies to.
But I digress that's more on the power of words not on if they are sexist,so in this case-it depends Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on a person's sex for the word to be sexist it would have be used specifically to single out and target the gender it applies to.
I've never actually heard a girl get called a ****. Guys, though? All the time. I don't consider it particularly terrible. If I wanted to actually insult a girl by 'reducing her to just her parts' or whatever the stupid determinist logic behind this is, I'd probably just call her a filthy cum-dumpster and be done with it. Obviously I don't ever actually do that, but the option is there.
I'm also British, if anyone hasn't guessed. In certain pubs, finding new and inventive ways to call people cunts is practically a past-time in between rounds of darts.
I'm also British, if anyone hasn't guessed. In certain pubs, finding new and inventive ways to call people cunts is practically a past-time in between rounds of darts.
Seriously? I get ninjad on 'cum-dumpster' of all things. Well done SirNoeL said:
Well, these two questions will take seconds to answer:Shanicus said:
1. Yes.
2. Yes.
Thats about it. Gay people can use homophobic words, not every word used by a gay person is no longer homophobic. Intent matters but content is very important. Thats about it really. And the word **** does have gendered associations, it might have colloquial meanings and uses but honestly, we all know what it means. We all know it means vagina. The association is still there. It still has its meaning.
This is not a subject I can speak with total authority on. I might just text my sister James, he specializes in this kind of stuff (English needs more gender neutral terms. That was a clunky as fuck way of referring to my sibling who happens to be gender neutral. But they prefer it that way).
The real question is how much you, and the people you are talking to, care. (This is where it is back to context). IF the people around you know you are not being sexist, then you are not being sexist despite the words you are using. But the words themselves still have those meanings. Its a strange thing to bend your mind around.
No. If I can use any other given term for vagina without anybody having a problem, then there's not any reason why I shouldn't be able to use '****'.
If a word is discriminative or offensive, then all of its variants and relatives are as well. That's not really the case in this situation. It may be rude or tasteless to say things like 'pussy', 'twat', 'snatch', etc. But hardly discriminative. ****, however... apparently that's the worst thing ever.
Don't get me wrong, if somebody asks me to not use a specific word in their presence, I'm going to listen, I just don't see why some people have a stick up their ass about the word ****.
If a word is discriminative or offensive, then all of its variants and relatives are as well. That's not really the case in this situation. It may be rude or tasteless to say things like 'pussy', 'twat', 'snatch', etc. But hardly discriminative. ****, however... apparently that's the worst thing ever.
Don't get me wrong, if somebody asks me to not use a specific word in their presence, I'm going to listen, I just don't see why some people have a stick up their ass about the word ****.
I'm not sure it's inherently sexist. I mean yeah, it's a specifically female perjorative meant to reduce a person down to their genitals, but by the same topic you can call a guy a dick, or a 'knobhead' or a dickface or something.
It's definitely not a nice word, though. The human race would not be much poorer if people chose not to use it.
It's definitely not a nice word, though. The human race would not be much poorer if people chose not to use it.
Obligatory Yahtzee quote (I'm surprised I haven't seen it posted here until now!): "This review is dedicated to you, anonymous forum poster, because you are a ****. What are you? You're a ****, yes you are. You live in a cunty cottage and you drive a cunty car!" (not actually dedicated to the OP, but I couldn't help remembering these lines from the Quantum Conundrum review when I read the title).
I'm afraid that's all I can do, since I'm not from an English speaking country, so I don't have any history with the word **** being used as offensive or sexist (really?!)... unless the equivalent in my language counts and it also is a strong word around here, though I hear it used more in expressing anger about a situation more than about a person.
Examples: "Why this **** of a program just won't work?" or "****! I slammed the car door on my fingers!"
I almost never hear it in "You ****! You killed Kenny!"; just thinking about a phrase like that sounds very off (not because of politeness, but because it sounds forced).
Maybe my opinion about the subject may count so here it is:
I'm afraid that's all I can do, since I'm not from an English speaking country, so I don't have any history with the word **** being used as offensive or sexist (really?!)... unless the equivalent in my language counts and it also is a strong word around here, though I hear it used more in expressing anger about a situation more than about a person.
Examples: "Why this **** of a program just won't work?" or "****! I slammed the car door on my fingers!"
I almost never hear it in "You ****! You killed Kenny!"; just thinking about a phrase like that sounds very off (not because of politeness, but because it sounds forced).
Maybe my opinion about the subject may count so here it is:
I pretty much agree with these people. Swear words logic is weird, if it exists at all. XDsomeonehairy-ish said:
Well, I am not exactly a professor of linguistics either, I just bounce things off my sister or my mother (My sister being a feminist, my mother being a linguist) and I build my views from that. Perhaps we all know what it means is a bad way of putting it, we might not all know what it means but that does not change its usage. If, at some point, it is totally and utterly stripped of all meaning and loses ANY meaning as another word for vagina, then yes, it is not a sexist term any more. However, we are talking about the here and now, not the future, not potential. And, right now, it means vagina, and it is used to indicate that something is bad, this usage is inherently sexist. It is exactly the same as using the term gay to mean anything bad, the intent is in most cases not homophobic, however it is as a result of our culture. It is used in that way and it is homophobic in its usage. However, unlike ****, the term "Gay" will not shift away from its current meaning (Homosexual male), and its usage is far less ambiguous.Shanicus said:
So in a way, I am agreeing with you. If, at some point, **** loses its meaning as anything other then its common usage then yes, it will no longer be sexist. However, since it currently has that meaning, its usage is inherently sexist. This is the point of the word though. It is an insult because of our culture, our society, and its meaning (Which is as a result of its history combined with our culture/society). Circular, yes, but honestly rather simple to understand.
Insults are insulting. That is the point of insults. With some insults if you seek to understand why they are insulting you end up coming to the conclusion that they are sexist. Honestly, the vast majority of insults carry some form of baggage. Calling someone a "Retard" instead of an "Idiot" is ablest, for example. It is MEANT to be ablest, that is the point of the insult.
However, despite my lack of being a linguistics professor, I am still infuriated when people try and make the baseless claim that words lack any meaning. Its a very, very stupid argument. If it held true, communication would be impossible. And there are those within this very thread who are attempting to make that claim (You are not one of them.)
As with most swear words, it depends entirely on the context. For example, I have a sexist... friend who uses the word "*****" to describe any woman he has even the slightest of negative feelings towards, but only women. I, on the other hand, regularly use ***** to refer to people who are petty, gossipy or empty-headed... Or to ironically refer to men's mother's when I'm annoyed.
I think George Carlin said it best.UBERfionn said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pksx_IAHDE
As an American I try and only call guys cunts. It's a great percussive word, but where I come from, the women will start hurling punches at you if you direct it towards them.
The sound of the word **** certainly packs a punch and sure, it refers to female genitalia. That said, it's a slur you throw at someone when you're pissed off, like forexample "That Kim Jong Un fellow sure is an oppressive ****", the word **** in this context is meant to hurt them, which is why it's useful. As for it being sexist, well, I guess but the word isn't exactly meant to induce thoughts of rosegardens and teaparties. So let it be sexist! It's meant to offend anyway!
No! no god dammit! nothing is sexist in and of its self!
Not even directly insulting a woman.
The only way anything becomes sexist is if you use it to imply that all women are inherently inferior to anything that isn't a woman for no reason.
Calling a woman a **** if she's being a ****, calling a man a **** if he's being a ****, Calling a 9 year old a **** ironically to point out that tabloid journalists have no tact. none of those things are sexist.
Calling someone a **** because comparing them to a female organ is the best insult you can think of makes you sexist, but not the word its self.
Not even directly insulting a woman.
The only way anything becomes sexist is if you use it to imply that all women are inherently inferior to anything that isn't a woman for no reason.
Calling a woman a **** if she's being a ****, calling a man a **** if he's being a ****, Calling a 9 year old a **** ironically to point out that tabloid journalists have no tact. none of those things are sexist.
Calling someone a **** because comparing them to a female organ is the best insult you can think of makes you sexist, but not the word its self.
bah thanks for posting that, i forgot how awesome george carlin is.GonzoGamer said:
and i'll say i do try to do this, i flip flop gender associated words, or i just use words that make no sense (unless with context) if i feel like being an aggressive ***** to someone.
"shut your pie hole, you scanty clown, nobody gives a flying muffin about your canadian opinion"
*note on the use of the word canadian, i am not referring to actual canadians, it's hilarious to see peoples reactions when i use it in my context though*
In Swedish it's fairly common to use. Nothing you say in front of your parents, but it's used once in a while. It's used in the exact same was as in English.
When playing LOTRO once, while I was in a mainly UK based kinship, I made a comment about people tagging mobs being cunts and chaos erupted. They all went into a fit of rage and scolded me for saying that. Was almost kicked out of the kin.
Since we can say dick, dickhead or other cock words I don't see why **** should be so frowned upon.
When playing LOTRO once, while I was in a mainly UK based kinship, I made a comment about people tagging mobs being cunts and chaos erupted. They all went into a fit of rage and scolded me for saying that. Was almost kicked out of the kin.
Since we can say dick, dickhead or other cock words I don't see why **** should be so frowned upon.