# 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:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/21 "2003-09-12T20:58:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pulykamell \* > \*\*C’mon. All together now… “Cunt.” We can say it. Don’t you feel better now? \*\* I use “Cunt” all the time, but I’ve been exposed to too many Aussies to really count. Frickin’ Aussies. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/22 "2003-09-12T21:01:46Z")
> [@](#): > > The sound of “She’s an asshole” sounds completely wrong to my ears, Ditto. The first time I ever heard it used as such was in the movie _16 Candles_, and it just sounded inappropriate (in a stupid way, not an offensive one). I’ve certainly never used it that way; it’d be like missing a subject-verb agreement to me. ---
**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, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/23 "2003-09-12T21:05:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GMRyujin \* > \*\*I use “Cunt” all the time, but I’ve been exposed to too many Aussies to really count. Frickin’ Aussies. \*\* Actually, to be honest, I had a hard time forming the word “cunt” until a two-month stint in Scotland, where everyone is a “daft cunt” it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/24 "2003-09-12T21:44:05Z")
An impromptu poll around my office of both men and women resulted in a unanimous vote for “asshole=men only.” (And another unanimous vote for “please get out of my office”) ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2003, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/25 "2003-09-12T21:47:43Z")
I use the word for men, women, my pets, religion groups, and inanimate objects. However, I consider it a “masculine” word. I mean, how could you insult someone with the word unless you meant a guy’s ulgy one? ---
**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, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/26 "2003-09-12T22:57:04Z")
Hmm. It appears to be an even split in opinion here. I think it’ll probably remain a masculine term in my world. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/27 "2003-09-13T02:33:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tradnor \* > **Bastard just means “child born out of wedlock”. Nothing necessarily male about that. Still, it’s usually not used to insult females.** Probably because it was historically used to disparage a male’s right to inheritance of money, a royal title, or whatever. Since women of whatever lineage were unlikely to contest an estate or succession, they were generally spared the epithet. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128/28 "2003-09-13T03:44:36Z")
I use the word asshole as a male-exclusive term unless it’s a large group of assholes, then it could be men and women. Female counterpart, in my mind, would be bitch. But my mind doesn’t work all that well so I might not count. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pejorative-asshole-masculine/201128.md?page=1)