# Cunt! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 25, 2002, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802 "2002-12-25T01:56:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/61 "2002-12-26T04:09:27Z")
No, it’s not a ‘female thing’. It’s an ‘over sensitive female thing’. Cunt is not the same as nigger no matter how hard you try to paint it that way. I’ll use it as I see fit, and I have called several men ‘cunts’ before. If you’re ever around me, you’ll probably witness it firsthand. As for it meaning that someone has ‘no respect’ for a person they’ve called a cunt, do you view other insults as being just as offensive? Would you be just as offended at being called a moron as you would at being called a cunt? If not, it is about the word and not the lack of respect. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/62 "2002-12-26T04:18:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mighty\_Girl \* > \*\*… some women might not take offense in the “c” word. I do. It is not the word, it’s what the word entail, it means that the one calling me that has no respect for me and considers me below him/her. \*\* But Mighty\_Girl, I could convey the same message by saying “I have absolutely no respect for you and I think that you are below me in every way.” And you wouldn’t take offense at any of the individual words in that sentence. To me, that sentence is much more hurtful than the solitary word ‘cunt’ but yet it doesn’t use any “bad” words. I’m just trying to make the point that the intent is harmful, not the words. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/63 "2002-12-26T04:57:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by **Cisco** \* > But Mighty\_Girl, I could convey the same message by saying “I have absolutely no respect for you and I think that you are below me in every way.” And you wouldn’t take offense at any of the individual words in that sentence. To me, that sentence is much more hurtful than the solitary word ‘cunt’ but yet it doesn’t use any “bad” words. If you say so I’d be equally offended as if you just call me a cunt. The latter is just a shorcut. If you tell me that because of the colour of my skin you consider me beneath you and therefore not entiltled to the same rights that you are I’d be offended. Or you can take a shorcut and call me nigger (not that you would, it is just an example). It is all in the context. I’ve used the word nigger to refer to myself in casual, humorous ways when talking to my SO. He’d used it himself (he’s Caucasian) and I haven’t taken offense. He’s called me bitch and a few other things when I beat him playing cards. I didn’t take offense and just replied with another seemingly equally offensive slur. I know that he doesn’t consider me beneath him, just like he knows I don’t consider him beneath me. As for you, since I don’t know you (generally, not specifically), I won’t give you the benefit of the doubt. If you call me a nigger or you call me a cunt I will take offense without the need of your explaining what you meant. Was that all clear? I need coffee. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/64 "2002-12-26T05:03:35Z")
Well then, **Mighty\_Girl** , that’s your choice. If you choose to allow a word said to you by someone you don’t know who doesn’t know you to offend you, that’s your choice. It’s not because the word that person used is ‘bad’. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/65 "2002-12-26T05:20:12Z")
Should I just assume that nothing anyone says would offend you? ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/66 "2002-12-26T05:24:03Z")
I don’t remember having ever been offended. Occasionally pissed off if someone I give a damn about does something to treat me wrong. But if some guy at a bar calls me a cunt or a bitch, well, big fuckin deal. Why on earth would I let that bother me? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/67 "2002-12-26T05:45:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*Oh, well I am female, so do you wanna start telling me why I’m wrong not to find offense in the word cunt? > \*\* **catsix** , perhaps you missed the OP, but the specific question asked was: > [@](#): > > Why is this word so much more powerful and pejorative than amost any other word when used to curse about, or at, women? It was not “Women of the SDMB, are you offended by the word ‘cunt’?”, much less “Does **catsix** personally find the word ‘cunt’ offensive?” **astro** wanted to know why the word is generally considered to be a very strong insult. Several people have made honest attempts to answer, but you have merely posted – repeatedly – that you don’t find the word insulting. Well, good for you, but _that wasn’t the question_. I can understand that you might want to mention that not all women are offended by the word, but you do not need to keep saying AGAIN and AGAIN that the word doesn’t bother you. Doing so is both irrelevant and obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/68 "2002-12-26T05:48:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EasyPhil \* > \*\*Okay, we’ve established that you’re a White woman throwing the “n” word around, cool. \*\* I think this is grossly inaccurate and misrepresentative of **DDG’s** position. She has explicitly stated she is using various words here as part of an adult discussion. “a White woman throwing the “n” word around” suggests **DDG** is racist - or at best insensitive - which she is clearly not. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/69 "2002-12-26T06:08:06Z")
Well **catsix** , I congratulate you for being well above one common human emotion, that is the capacity of being offended. I wish I were, but alas, I am not. And so are other people/women, therefore I find it in good taste not to use words that GENERALLY offend people by suggesting that they belong to an inferior sub-class (inferior race or inferior gender, e.g.). ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/70 "2002-12-26T06:41:07Z")
If you use a word that may be offensive, you have to know your audience well. Many years ago, in my circle of friends, we occasionally used the word “bitch”. What we all meant and understood by that term was a sort of backbiting meanness, or else it was used as a generic expletive. No problem, until it was said to an American girl, who proceded to go absolutlely ballastic over a term that none of the rest of us found terribly offensive. Mind you, we’re talking about friends sitting around in a bar, not a situation where a stranger screams at you “YOU BITCH!”. The thing is, in her social scene, “bitch” was a deadly insult. In ours, it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/71 "2002-12-26T06:42:23Z")
“ballistic”, not “ballastic”. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/72 "2002-12-26T08:15:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EasyPhil \* > \*\*Yeah, that’s it, you’re not Black so you can’t even begin to imagine how offensive the word is because of it’s history and the lingering effects of that history. I can personally relate to the word, which is why I don’t use it, I don’t write it, I don’t speak it. > \*\* OK, I gotta ask. Is it the word that’s offensive, or the person who uses it? Are you offended when Chris Rock uses it? Samuel L. Jackson? Rappers? There seems to be a double standard amongst some folks regarding it’s offensiveness. (Not saying you, that’s why I’m asking) In some films and stand-up routines, it’s use was synonamous with ‘friend’, ‘dude’ and ‘fellow’ when uttered by a black person. But _always_ an outrage when uttered by a white person. I don’t use the word either. I find it ugly. And unimaginative as an insult. I think it would better if we all decided it’s just not a word we’ll use. But that’s me. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/73 "2002-12-26T13:46:28Z")
Nobody yet has actually demonstrated that the word itself is what’s offensive or that it’s a ‘bad’ word. All that’s been heard from those who find it offensive so far is that ‘Well it just is. Because, um, it offends ME.’ and a few people have strongly implied that all women find it to be this horrendous sting in the face. That generalization has got to go. And directly after you chide me for continuing to point this out, **Lamia** , we have yet another assertion that the word ‘cunt’ “offend[s] people by suggesting that they belong to an inferior sub-class (inferior race or inferior gender, e.g.).” Fine. That’s been stated multiple times in this thread. Nobody has yet answered **how** the word ‘cunt’ in and of itself is suggestive of that at all. Is anyone going to explain that? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/74 "2002-12-26T14:26:08Z")
Obviously I am not good at explaining myself. We already know that you aren’t offended by anything **catsix** , therefore it is impossible to try and get across the idea that CERTAIN words, backed by CERTAIN attitudes in CERTAIN context might offend CERTAIN people. Why is cunt offensive? Because it implies that all there is to women is just their genitalia, implying therefore that it is the only thing that has value in us. In that same line SOME people are offended by words like “nigger”, “spic”, “gook”, “whigger”, et cetera. Try calling someone that in the board and see the response, after all they are just words, right. The offense isn’t in a certain combination of letters but in the meaning that society has assigned to that particular combination of letters. The point is (yes, I have one 🙂 ) that people do get offended, therefore one must tread lightly when using words that GENERALLY carry an offensive meaning. For a list of such words ask any mom, they are good at teaching us which words not to use in polite company, usually by smacking you in the head when you ask what they mean. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/75 "2002-12-26T14:28:36Z")
> [@](#): > > **Mighty\_Girl said:** > Why is cunt offensive? Because it implies that all there is to women is just their genitalia, implying therefore that it is the only thing that has value in us. How does it imply that? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/76 "2002-12-26T14:36:25Z")
**catsix**? Have you ever heard the word used in a non-pejorative way? I can’t say that I have. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/77 "2002-12-26T14:39:29Z")
Yes, **spooje** , on a daily basis. Pretty much like every other word that’s ever been used to describe genetalia of either gender. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/78 "2002-12-26T14:53:48Z")
You and I travel in different circles then. Whenever I hear it, which is rarely, it’s meant to have some sting to it. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/79 "2002-12-26T14:54:33Z")
So then I guess it’s not one of those words that is universally used as an insult or slur. ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802/80 "2002-12-26T16:11:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*OK, I gotta ask. > > Is it the word that’s offensive, or the person who uses it? Are you offended when Chris Rock uses it? Samuel L. Jackson? Rappers? There seems to be a double standard amongst some folks regarding it’s offensiveness. (Not saying you, that’s why I’m asking) In some films and stand-up routines, it’s use was synonamous with ‘friend’, ‘dude’ and ‘fellow’ when uttered by a black person. But _always_ an outrage when uttered by a white person. > > I don’t use the word either. I find it ugly. And unimaginative as an insult. I think it would better if we all decided it’s just not a word we’ll use. But that’s me. \*\* **Spooge** , the answer is yes to all the above, no double standard. I don’t use the word and the friends I run with don’t use it either. I’m in full agreement with your last paragraph. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cunt/144802.md?page=5)