So many insults are gendered… And so many are inherently misogynistic. Can someone start a wiki or shared google doc with good insults to use while trying to stay woke?
And don’t tell me to just not insult people, you scobberlotcher!
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So you mean somebody with extreme predjucide against the Clintons was embedded in the staff of the Starr investigation?
Well that went full circle in a hurry, Trump accusing others of what he and his circle are guilty of.
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I think calling a female a bitch is equivalent to calling a man an asshole. They are both terms for someone you think of as mean or especially unpleasant.
To call a man a bitch, is to imasculate him. In prison a bitch is a weak male who cannot stand up for themselves so is used for sex by another inmate or inmates.
Business as usual in the US: Not that long ago (assuming it stopped) when job reqs for secretaries were coded with the term “front office type”… meaning white, blonde, and blue-eyed.
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Using gendered slurs implies that the person’s gender is part of the problem you have with that person. Just like how using the N-word demeans all black people even if you only use it when referring to especially unpleasant black people.
If you want to say you think a woman is an asshole, call her an asshole.
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I believe there are men out there who, when they run across women who are effectively decisive and who display strong leadership skills, believe that those women are “mean or especially unpleasant”. Male leaders are less likely to be seen that same way.
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My go-to pejorative is “buffoon”. As day-to-day insults go, it doesn’t get much play although there are so many juicy opportunities these days.
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Obi-Wan: “You will sit on a red-hot branding iron for 1 hour.”
Kavanaugh: “I will sit on a red-hot branding iron for 1 hour.”
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I think that is the nature of insults. No matter what combinations of traits one has, if one wants to insult that person, they will use what ever traits they can. Weight, intelligence, physical appearance or issues, class, financial status, ethnicity, race, gender, orientation, etc etc. Of course insults from someone you know or someone who shares the same trait being used against you can soften or even nullify the insult.
There are a few “neutral” insults. Most of them aren’t good insults. And I will concede there are less insults for the “default” of a straight, white male, but they are out there.
So I am of the mind we should really avoid insulting one another, vs curbing certain insults because they are some how worse.
…and the sun rises in the morning. Of course he did.
Even those are pretty toothless. “Honky” will never have the same sting as “n—r,” “dick” isn’t as vulgar as “c—t,” “breeder” is downright cute compared to “f—t.”
If you’re a straight white male it’s best to just avoid any insult that targets another group. Stick to basics like “jerk” or “asshole” or “shithead” or “Republican.”
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I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m yelling swear words at someone, while simultaneously worrying about offending their gender.
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Are we supposed to be surprised? Shocked? I thought not.
The point isn’t that we should avoid gendered slurs out of respect for the person we’re insulting. The point is that we should avoid gendered slurs out of respect for all women.
I don’t hold Bill Cosby in very high regard now that I know he’s a serial rapist but I wouldn’t call him the N-word because I’m not a bigot.
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Call me old fashioned but I see asshole/bitch like waiter/waitress. I don’t read much into it other than the object is disagreeable likely in a way distinctive of their gender.
I don’t use the N-word or any of the other watered down, dog whistle racist terms “thug”,“urban” etc because I’m not racist.
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What people consider “toothless” varies from person to person and is different through out time and context. What one considers vulgar varies again. If something as “toothless” as “nerd” sends someone away bawling, it isn’t “toothless”. Like wise, words one may consider over the line can be thrown around by others and it’s just as toothless to them because they hear it all the time.
I am not even attempting to tackle your “nuclear” examples. How about something as generic as “fat fuck” or “stupid fuck” or “four eyed scrawny fuck” or what ever. How are any of those any less demeaning? Because I didn’t target a sex or gender?
Oh yes, it would be a shame for someone yelling insults at someone to cross a line and really hurt their feelings 
That’s why people insult people, to get a rise and piss them off. And if tier 3 doesn’t set them off, they move up to tier 2, to tier 1, and then go for the nuclear options.
Sorry, I just find this whole concept silly. Be polite to people in general.
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Again, it’s not about respecting the feelings of the person you are insulting. It is about respecting all the other people who are members of the group that you turn into an insult.
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You can be sexist without being racist, and using gendered slurs is a form of sexism.
I mean, I get it - I admit that I use gendered slurs all the time, often without even realizing it. It may be without malicious intent but it’s a habit I’m trying to get out of.
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