# Is the pejorative "asshole" masculine? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128 "2003-09-12T03:45:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/1 "2003-09-12T03:45:45Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/2 "2003-09-12T03:47:39Z")
I’ve used it to refer to both sexes. What would be a similar female word? ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/3 "2003-09-12T04:03:20Z")
What, women don’t have anuses? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/4 "2003-09-12T04:38:53Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/5 "2003-09-12T05:04:06Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/6 "2003-09-12T05:15:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/7 "2003-09-12T05:20:38Z")
Unisex orifice, EOD. ---
**Author:** ![Tradnor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@Tradnor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tradnor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/8 "2003-09-12T06:03:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/9 "2003-09-12T06:10:08Z")
Are arses male only? ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/10 "2003-09-12T10:20:22Z")
I say asshole for men, and bitch for women. And if it’s a woman friend, I say Beeyatch. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/11 "2003-09-12T12:13:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*There’s a famous saying that goes “Opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s got one.” \*\* 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. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/12 "2003-09-12T12:52:07Z")
Bitch and asshole are both unisex, in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/13 "2003-09-12T13:09:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/14 "2003-09-12T14:19:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/15 "2003-09-12T14:53:04Z")
I thought this was going to be another thread along the lines of “To all assholes: Do you find the term ‘asshole’ offensive?” ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/16 "2003-09-12T16:15:51Z")
The term is definately gender-neutral. What asshole told you otherwise? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/17 "2003-09-12T19:19:35Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![5-HT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/f19dbf/32.png) [@5-HT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5-HT)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/18 "2003-09-12T20:11:57Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/19 "2003-09-12T20:35:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Omnipresent \* > \*\*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. \*\* 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.) ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/20 "2003-09-12T20:47:07Z")
I LOVE that word. I love the way it just makes women cringe. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128.md?page=2)