# "Having balls" - sexist? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 20, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370 "2012-10-20T23:37:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/21 "2012-10-21T05:14:49Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I see what you did there. I’m glad someone did. (I like you, kid; you’ve got spunk.) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/22 "2012-10-21T05:27:53Z")
Stephen Colbert said that the female equivalent of “balls” is “Thatchers”. P.S.: I was going to make a comment about the word _testify_, but apparently the etymology is [the other way around](http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/comments/testify/). Good thing I checked first. ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/23 "2012-10-21T05:42:09Z")
Women can definitely have balls as well. I can’t remember who the comedian was, but he remarked that he was amazed that Madonna’s short skirts could hide the massive pair of balls she carries around with her. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/24 "2012-10-21T07:16:47Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I see what you did there. I wondered if I was the only one who saw that! Clever, very clever! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/25 "2012-10-21T07:57:13Z")
> [@AqualungBats5th](#): > > The equivalent anatomy is the ovaries, and I have heard people say things like that, though in a jokey way. > > The term is reflective of the overall gender normative narrative that insists assertiveness is an inherently masculine trait, and one that is remarkable for a woman to have because of that. It’s a rather mild form of sexism (I couldn’t begin to tell what, if any at all, negative affect it has on women.), but let’s not kid ourselves about where the expression came from and why it exists. I have to disagree. Having balls used to be an exclusively male term, it’s (relative) acceptability as a crossover term these days is more an indication of decreased stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/26 "2012-10-21T09:53:27Z")
> [@AqualungBats5th](#): > > The equivalent anatomy is the ovaries, and I have heard people say things like that, though in a jokey way. Well, I’ve heard that Mexican woman who \*gave herself an emergency caesarian \* once described as having “cast iron ovaries”… ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/27 "2012-10-21T11:10:51Z")
[Lauren Fleshman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF1_v8EvcOo) after winning the 2010 US 5000 meters claims that her winning move was “just balls.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/28 "2012-10-21T11:10:55Z")
No. Slightly crude (much less than it used to be), but not sexist. It has the hallmarks of being sexist, since it implies that only men can be brave, but, for some reason, it isn’t. I still prefer “guts” myself, however. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/29 "2012-10-21T12:45:42Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > I’m glad someone did. (I like you, kid; you’ve got **spunk**.) SEXIST! Seriously, I agree with **AqualungBats5th**. There is a subtext that strength, courage, and boldness are male traits. So technically it’s a bit sexist. You could just say, “Man, Pat really had some gonads, going up against the boss like that,” but of course it doesn’t have the same impact. Just like you could stage a campaign to change Wednesday to Mittwoch, because you don’t like invoking the name of a Norse god when you make your dentist appointment, but it would be silly and awkward. Language evolves, and you can’t just transfer all the emotional and social baggage to another, more PC term. That said, I have toyed with trying to avoid calling people dicks, twats, and . . . er, so forth, and take the tack suggested by some gender-equality writers of just saying, “My God, stop being such a crotch!” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/30 "2012-10-21T15:06:45Z")
Yeah it’s sexist. No I’m not really offended by it. There are far worse examples of sexism in the world today. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/31 "2012-10-21T15:21:52Z")
Ha. We’ve gone around a strange kind of bend now where people who have gotten fatigued with them have decided that “sexist” and “racist” and things like that _only_ mean “are offensive to me,” so that now we have overwhelming agreement that ascribing a particular positive behavior to literal primary sexual characteristics is not sexist. It’s sexist. It’s like the least confusing version of sexism you could come up with. What it’s not is offensive to anybody at this point. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/32 "2012-10-21T15:26:16Z")
How is this not sexist? Apparently it’s not offensive, but it’s clearly sexist. The female equivalent, at least in my social circle, is to comment on the vag - as in “dust that sand out of your vag”. It goes hand in hand with having your football coach telling you to take your skirt off, calling you girls names, and asking if you forgot to screw in your prosthetic pecker that particular morning when you were playing… ineffectively. [edit] beaten to it, and more succinctly by Jimmy Chitwood ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/33 "2012-10-21T15:33:35Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Ha. We’ve gone around a strange kind of bend now where people who have gotten fatigued with them have decided that “sexist” and “racist” and things like that _only_ mean “are offensive to me,” so that now we have overwhelming agreement that ascribing a particular positive behavior to literal primary sexual characteristics is not sexist. > > It’s sexist. It’s like the least confusing version of sexism you could come up with. What it’s not is offensive to anybody at this point. Thank you for articulating what was puzzling to me in that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/34 "2012-10-22T02:02:58Z")
Ya’ know, for a very brief period in my life, I tried to take the high road and used ‘moxie’ instead of ‘balls’. Of those two words, guess which one got more of a WFT reaction? I’ll give you a hint. It wasn’t balls. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/35 "2012-10-22T02:34:41Z")
I guess it could more appropiately be called nerve, but the term “balls” just holds more sway. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/36 "2012-10-22T03:26:14Z")
I have “balls” and I’m damn proud of it. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/37 "2012-10-22T04:41:35Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > I am willing to testify that anyone who objects to this idiom is a hysterical idiot. This thread is giving me the vapors. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/38 "2012-10-22T13:30:16Z")
“Having ovaries” doesn’t have the same ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/39 "2012-10-22T13:45:31Z")
Of course it is sexist. It’s not offensive (to me). What baffles me is that having balls means tough, while being a pussy is weak. If you compare the two a vag is a hell of a lot tougher than balls. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370/40 "2012-10-22T14:41:26Z")
I agree that it’s sexist. I don’t find it offensive, but I do find calling someone a “pussy” very offensive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/having-balls-sexist/638370.md?page=3)