As there’s likely no definitive answer, I’ll ask for (the always humble) opinions of the TM. Whadya think? I somehow have the sense that “asshole” connotates reference to a male, and another word would, in most people’s usage, be used when a qualitatively similar reference is demanded for a female subject.
I’ve used it to refer to both sexes. What would be a similar female word?
What, women don’t have anuses?
There’s a famous saying that goes “Opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s got one.” The term is gender-neutral, although I can see where people might normally call a woman a bitch or something instead.
That’s what I was getting at. Given the same assholish behavior, I’d normally describe a male as such, but I think I’d use some other word for a female. Not necessarily a nicer one, just another one.
I call men assholes casually. It’s just like ‘jerk’.
I call women assholes when I am really pissed. I used it as others use a term referring to another nearby orifice.
That word, and bitch, I generally use only with close friends, and with some affection.
Unisex orifice, EOD.
Bastard just means “child born out of wedlock”. Nothing necessarily male about that. Still, it’s usually not used to insult females.
Same with asshole, IME.
Are arses male only?
I say asshole for men, and bitch for women. And if it’s a woman friend, I say Beeyatch.
I always heard it “Opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s got one, most are fill of shit, and it’s best to keep them covered.” I’ll go with unisex on this one.
Bitch and asshole are both unisex, in my mind.
Hmmm… For me (and the people I hang around with), “asshole” is exclusively male. “Bitch” can be male or female, with slightly different connotations. “Cunt” can also be male or female. (With the female meaning being more vulgar and emphatic than the male.) The sound of “She’s an asshole” sounds completely wrong to my ears, and to all of a small sampling (4) of people around me. “Dick” and “Prick” and “Cock” and also male. “Cocksucker,” while having a functional feminine meaning, has also been judged here to be, in practice, exclusively male.
Take that small sample for what it’s worth.
I do think of Asshole as a male term.
Why?
Because I did Rocky Horror show so much and Brad is ‘Asshole’ and Janet is ‘Bitch’.
Though, intellectually I know it is gender neutral.
I thought this was going to be another thread along the lines of “To all assholes: Do you find the term ‘asshole’ offensive?”
The term is definately gender-neutral. What asshole told you otherwise? 
Well, I guess the thing is, you’re apt to call a male an asshole because he has one. Or, you call him “Dick”, because he has one.
You couldln’t call a female a “Dick” because she doesn’t have one. But, you could call a female an asshole because she has one but, as far as holes go, the “other” hole definately trumps the asshole.
So, that would be why we refer to women as “C’s” at times.
It would never occur to me to call a woman an asshole. It just doesn’t sound right. The term may be gender neutral, but ('round here at least) in practice it’s use is not.
C’mon. All together now… “Cunt.” We can say it. Don’t you feel better now?
What is it with this word, anyway? It seems to be the only taboo word left in American English (well, along with “nigger” perhaps, for other reasons.)
I LOVE that word. I love the way it just makes women cringe.