“STRAYA!”
Body is invalid: try to be a little more descriptive.
“CUNT!”
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Aint you got no pride girl?!?
But in American English, “cunt” as an insult is meant as a comparison to female genitalia, and is not a homonym.
Homonym of what? Are you pretending the word doesn’t have its origin in referencing female genitalia going back an awful long way? Its use (as used now) is simply based on historic misogyny where men call each other words that refer to them being feminine in some fashion as an insult.
As I said above: “Cunt” meaning a vexatious person, is a homonym of “cunt” meaning female genitalia. Whatever the etymology of the word meaning vexatious person, like “bastard” and many other words before it, whatever it meant “an awful long way” back, it now means something else.
When I call David Cameron a cunt, I am not thinking of his resemblance to a pair of fleshy labia at all, just that he is a person totally undeserving of any good feeling whatsoever, just the same as when I call him a bastard I do not find myself considering his immediate ancestry, or when I call him a wanker I could care less about his solitary sexual pleasurings, or when I call him a muppet… all right, he does resemble a cross between Beaker and Honeydew somewhat.
You mean like 20 years ago?
Perhaps not but plenty of women will think you’re a fucking pig if you say it in front of them.
I put this down more to Australians, French, and a lot of Europeans use sexist language and then try to pass it off as “not really sexist.”
Whatever.
It’s your phrase; that’s why I put quote marks around it. It means whatever you want it to mean. Just like “cunt” means whatever I want it to mean.
Sorry but words have actual meanings otherwise when I say “You’re a pigfucker” I could say “That means you’re a sweet senior citizen” in my personal newspeak.
If you want to communicate with other humans, you do have to take norms into account. The norm for much of the English speaking world is that the word you love there is derogatory towards women. Most English speakers don’t live in Oz. I’d also hazard that I wouldn’t have to try too hard to find women in Oz that think it is an offensive term.
Eh, of course it’s sexist. Do you think I care, when I have been pushed to extreme emotion by that vexatious person what some other hypothetical person might think if they should hear me call David Cameron a cunt? If I’m angry, do you think I give a damn?
So the best insult you think is some misogynistic one that you freely admit is sexist? Check.
“Yeah, when I get really mad at some wanker and am seeing red, the worst thing I can think of is to compare them to a woman!”
The elephant in the room might be the question: “What is wrong with being compared to female genitalia?” If people think there is something wrong with them, then the “problem” might be in the mind of the beholder, rather than the speaker.
So you think that calling people “bitch” or “cunt,” etc. isn’t a visible example of misogyny and the negative fashion men treat women in various Western cultures?
What’s the matter with it is that it is meant as an insult because comparing a man to a woman is seen as belittling a man and it reinforces the sexism in culture. That is the reason it is used as an insult in the first place.
Of course, I’m saying this to you so you’ll now tell me that you make up your own happy language and participate in your own self-made culture where these things don’t happen and why can’t everyone else choose to live there too, right?
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When the gamergate people call a woman a “cunt,” they’re meaning it in a nice way?
Dratted iPad, crashing all over the place; I think I got my replies mixed up.
Meanwhile, you are not the whole of the English-speaking world either. I’ve heard plenty of women in the UK use the term as an insult. Perhaps you should have a word with them while you’re policing the language? I invite you to attend my local high street at chucking-out time on a Friday or Saturday night.
And the “best” insult? I don’t know about that, it’s just a word that bubbles up from my unconscious when I’m angry. In fact, the more I’m told I shouldn’t use it, the more likely it is to surface in extremis, rather than “tosser”, “bastard”, “dick”, etc. Conscious thought has nothing to do with it.
Taken in a purely literal fashion, cunt even fails as an insult, as the intended target usually lacks both warmth, depth and essential humanity. I prefer douche or douchebag, as they’re largely unnecessary, pointless and often cause irritation and harm to women.
Not that either are part of my normal swearing. There’s way more creative and interesting ways to insult someone…
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Doesn’t this depend upon the intent of the speaker? What I mean is, doesn’t the comparison only work as an insult if you think there is something wrong with what you are being compared to? Why should I assume a priori that there is anything wrong with being a woman? Wouldn’t that outlook be more misogynistic than taking it as a compliment?
Eh… maybe that’s how you have made up your mind to interpret what I am saying, but it’s not what I mean. Taking comparisons with a woman as an insult might be exacerbating the problem.
I doubt if they would be meaning it in a nice way, but that’s not the context we are dealing with here. Either way, if the response is “Thanks for the compliment!” deflates that intent.
No. Perhaps the (male) speaker is simply unreflective of misogyny of their speech choices because they don’t think or worry about the feelings of women or their historical roles and oppression in our society. My dad was a misogynistic shipwelder who used to slap women around. If he called someone that word, even if it was a guy, as an insult, I don’t think he was reflecting on his feelings towards women at the moment. The lower role of women was just assumed and it was the “water in which he swum.” He would be comparing the other man to a woman because that, in itself, is inherently insulting for much of male society historically.
Intent doesn’t determine whether the language is sexist in its root. The reason why people use terms relating to women as insults is rooted in sexism. That’s why they use them that way.
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I’m extrapolating from all of our interactions where culture, language, ways of living, etc. come up since you live in a context free bubble where you create your own reality, unlike the rest of us!
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If you want to communicate with other humans, you do have to take norms into account. The norm for much of the English speaking world is that the word you love there is derogatory towards women.
Yes, this is precisely the point most people here are trying to make: In Australia, the word does not have nearly the same gravity, nor association with misogyny as it does in the US. This is an Australian interview, filmed for an Australian audience being discussed after all.
Conversely, I think the word “slut” is probably considered much more offensive here than it is in the US. I remember hearing it on daytime tv during my time in N.America, yet I can’t recall that in Australia outside of the news reporting on “Slutwalk” or the such. Personally I’m more offended by the double standard in women being considered sluts, whilst there is no equivalent for men, than our the names of either sexes genitalia being thrown around as an insult.
It’s also worth pointing out the words “cock” and “dick” are thrown around in equal abandon in this part of the world.
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In the US it is considered second only to fuck as a word that should not be used in polite company. Oddly, just the other day I was told that it is the preferred term for whites among non-whites now.
Since “dick,” “prick,” “cocksucker,” “fuck,” and “asshole” are all words with convertible intent along with “cunt” I am not sure we can conclude that it is misogynist. I think it has more to do with our mixed feelings about the power that sex has over all of us.
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