Go on... rape her... she won't report it... [UniLad magazine article]

[yield]

Time out guys and ladies. *in memoriam* hth

 

[Miss Caphat]

Well done on that but it's not an argument.

sure it is. being in possession of a cunt personally, when I hear someone being called one, I have every right to be offended, and someone who is not in possession of one telling me I shouldn't be is a little

 

[ymu]

These words have been in use since before Chaucer. Fuck all to do with the Victorians.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

sure it is. being in possession of a cunt personally, when I hear someone being called one, I have every right to be offended, and someone who is not in possession of one telling me I shouldn't be is a little

You're American, though. It's used differently there, tbh. The word cunt is used here almost always about men, not women.

That's a rather weird argument, though. I've got a prick, but I don't feel offended when someone is called a prick.

 

[Citizen66]

You wouldnt last long in the UK then.

@ caphat

 

[revol68]

sure it is. being in possession of a cunt personally, when I hear someone being called one, I have every right to be offended, and someone who is not in possession of one telling me I shouldn't be is a little

oh god get over yourself you aren't north american.

ah shit apparently you are, that explains it then.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

These words have been in use since before Chaucer. Fuck all to do with the Victorians.

The words have existed since before Chaucer, but their modern connotations - and taboo nature - dates largely from the Victorians, who made reference to bodily functions in polite company taboo.

 

[Miss Caphat]

It's not the same thing at all.

Cuss words are usually based on body parts or sexual acts. It's where they get their shock value from. Usage is far, far removed from the original meaning - try interpreting the word 'fuck' literally every time you hear it.

Use of the word 'gay' to mean something bad is not cussing, it is a new and unpleasant playground insult which directly refers to the origins of the word it has adopted.

so what about pussy then? when used as an insult, it is clearly meant as a way to degrade a man, by means of comparing him to female genitalia.

 

[ymu]

The words have existed since before Chaucer, but their modern connotations - and taboo nature - dates largely from the Victorians, who made reference to bodily functions in polite company taboo.

There is a whole module of the brain devoted to swearing - it is separate from the parts that deal with language. The terms might change over the years, but humans have been swearing for an awful lot longer than that.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

so what about pussy then? when used as an insult, it is clearly meant as a way to degrade a man, by means of comparing him to female genitalia.

That's a tricky one as it's basically a US swear word. You hear it a bit here, but only really because of US influence.

 

[Citizen66]

so what about pussy then? when used as an insult, it is clearly meant as a way to degrade a man, by means of comparing him to female genitalia.

And cunt can be used as a term of endearment. As americans would say, go figure.

 

[revol68]

oh fuck here we go, a thread on sexism descends into a fixation on language or not even how language is actually being used but a literalist reading of a words origin.

you'd think a north american had arrived.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

The terms might change over the years, but humans have been swearing for an awful lot longer than that.

Oh yeah, certainly. Sorry, I wasn't arguing otherwise.

 

[Miss Caphat]

oh god get over yourself you aren't north american.

ah shit apparently you are, that explains it then.

whatever. I said it didn't bother me personally, but you're all fucked in the head and/or being facetious for the fun of it if you can't see the inherent sexism in calling a man a cunt.

 

[DotCommunist]

Why sexual organs though?

I suppose calling someone a stupid fucking arm doesnt quite work and arsehole has a nice ring to it.

you fucking spleen

 

[littlebabyjesus]

you fucking spleen

See that works!

 

[revol68]

whatever. I said it didn't bother me personally, but you're all fucked in the head and/or being facetious for the fun of it if you can't see the inherent sexism in calling a man a cunt.

what because we understand language as being fluid and don't have some fundamentalist notion of words being anchored to their origins?

when you hear the word fuck or shit do you automatically think of sex and poo regardless of context?

 

[Miss Caphat]

That's a tricky one as it's basically a US swear word. You hear it a bit here, but only really because of US influence.

you know, I have actually been told a few times by Brits that sexism doesn't really exist there. well, carry on in that case. I guess I should know better than to stick my 2 cents in where it doesn't belong

 

[Citizen66]

you fucking spleen

Fuck off you sniveling solar plexus.

 

[Miss Caphat]

what because we understand language as being fluid and don't have some fundamentalist notion of words being anchored to there origins?

when you hear the word fuck or shit do you automatically think of sex and poo regardless of context?

I don't think of sex when I hear "fuck" but then again that's a unisex word. Shit does not make me think of poo but I'd say it's pretty clear why the word is used to describe unpleasant things.

 

[revol68]

you know, I have actually been told a few times by Brits that sexism doesn't really exist there. well, carry on in that case. I guess I should know better than to stick my 2 cents in where it doesn't belong

fuck you and your two cents, I don't see how you can bandy that term about without realising the huge amount of pain and suffering money has caused around the world, not least how it was used to seperate the native populations of the americas from their land.

 

[ymu]

so what about pussy then? when used as an insult, it is clearly meant as a way to degrade a man, by means of comparing him to female genitalia.

I agree.

In the UK, the word cunt is not aimed exclusively at one sex, and it can be used affectionately as well as aggressively. It is considered sexist in the US because it is only ever used to describe women in a nasty way over there.

It has nothing to do with the etymology of the word and everything to do with the way it is used. I would put that use of the word 'pussy' in the same camp as 'gay' - it's not a swearword, it is an insulting comparison.

If you object to the use of the word cunt merely on the grounds that it describes a female body part and is used as a swear word, then you have to object equally to the use of the words cock, dick, prick and also twat and fanny (means cunt in the UK) - the whole caboodle. If you take that attitude, then you are basically just trying to ban certain swearwords, which will only make them more taboo anyway.

It's usage which matters. In the UK, the abbreviation 'Paki' is considered offensive. This is not because there is an inherent racism in the use of four letter abbreviations for a nationality ('Brit', for example, is fine), it is because it has a history of being used offensively.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

you know, I have actually been told a few times by Brits that sexism doesn't really exist there. well, carry on in that case. I guess I should know better than to stick my 2 cents in where it doesn't belong

Hang on! All I said was that 'pussy' is largely a US swear word. It's not a word I would ever say, nor one I hear often. You're better placed than me to say what it means . I did provide the example of fanny here, which is a mild term of abuse, while prick certainly isn't.

Is it sexism in operation here, or swear words emerging from the taboos of polite society?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It has nothing to do with the etymology of the word and everything to do with the way it is used.

This, basically.

 

[Miss Caphat]

Hang on! All I said was that 'pussy' is largely a US swear word. It's not a word I would ever say, nor one I hear often. You're better placed than me to say what it means . I did provide the example of fanny here, which is a mild term of abuse, while prick certainly isn't.

Is it sexism in operation here, or swear words emerging from the taboos of polite society?

sorry, I was actually just about to apologize to you because you really didn't mean it the way I took it.

 

[Miss Caphat]

I agree.

In the UK, the word cunt is not aimed exclusively at one sex, and it can be used affectionately as well as aggressively. It is considered sexist in the US because it is only ever used to describe women in a nasty way over there.

It has nothing to do with the etymology of the word and everything to do with the way it is used. I would put that use of the word 'pussy' in the same camp as 'gay' - it's not a swearword, it is an insulting comparison.

If you object to the use of the word cunt merely on the grounds that it describes a female body part and is used as a swear word, then you have to object equally to the use of the words cock, dick, prick and also twat and fanny (means cunt in the UK) - the whole caboodle. If you take that attitude, then you are basically just trying to ban certain swearwords, which will only make them more taboo anyway.

It's usage which matters. In the UK, the abbreviation 'Paki' is considered offensive. This is not because there is an inherent racism in the use of four letter abbreviations for a nationality ('Brit', for example, is fine), it is because it has a history of being used offensively.

hey, please try to read people's posts! I never said it did offend me. But yes, cock, dick, prick, etc, fall into the same category IMO. But lol at me trying to ban things! I use these words all the time, even cunt.
can I go back to my homework now?

 

[Miss Caphat]

or, rather, may I go back to my homework now, CUNTS?

 

[ymu]

you know, I have actually been told a few times by Brits that sexism doesn't really exist there. well, carry on in that case. I guess I should know better than to stick my 2 cents in where it doesn't belong

That's the same phenomenon as the well meaning anti-racist liberals who pretend to be colour-blind. They think if they insist that they live in a post-racist society it will come true. In practice, it just means that black people get racist abuse and then 'nice' white people tell them it didn't happen.

Membership of a group which is responsible for oppression whilst not being a fan of that oppression is tricky. Some feel the need to pretend that their psyche s completely unaffected by it, some feel the need to pretend that the problem has been solved so they don't have to think about it any more, some just get curiously defensive.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

or, rather, may I go back to my homework now, CUNTS?

That's better.

 

[Citizen66]

You said you have every right to be offended:

sure it is. being in possession of a cunt personally, when I hear someone being called one, I have every right to be offended, and someone who is not in possession of one telling me I shouldn't be is a little

strange thing to say if youre not actually bothered about it.