# So "ammosexual" is a sexually offensive word now? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 3, 2022, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176 "2022-04-03T04:24:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/44 "2022-04-04T00:11:50Z")
And why don’t we just ban “metrosexual” too? I mean, isn’t that just sexualizing straight males who mind their looks? ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/45 "2022-04-04T00:33:51Z")
> [@Snooppuppy](#): > > Ok “Ammosexual” means gun nut. Why is that a problem? if i can call someone a gun nut, why cant i call them a “Ammosexual”? It’s not a problem as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with ammosexual. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/46 "2022-04-04T01:19:34Z")
**nearwildheaven** intentionally used the derogatory word “ammosexual” in what was otherwise a breaking news thread. **ExTank** ’s response was not appropriate for MPSIMS, but was certainly not unexpected given **nearwildheaven** ’s derogatory comment. It was my opinion that despite only having two posts, the thread was already off the rails. Rather than try to save the thread, I felt that it was better to let someone start a new thread without the sexualized anti and pro gun rhetoric. I discussed this with @puzzlegal and told her that I believed it was best to leave the thread closed. If anti and pro folks want to sling sexualized comments back and forth at each other, you know where the Pit is. Keep those types of comments out of MPSIMS breaking news threads. Before posting breaking news threads and before commenting on them, please be sure to familiarize yourself with the guidelines for breaking news threads, found here: > [@No political/religious jabs in breaking news threads in MPSIMS](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-political-religious-jabs-in-breaking-news-threads-in-mpsims/740558): > > This is not a new rule but rather codifies the existing informal guidelines. MPSIMS threads are often started to call attention to breaking news stories. Many posters value these threads because they offer new information and multiple cites about the event in one place. Often the information is rapidly changing and these threads can move fast. One of the advantages of the SDMB is that with many posters from around the world we often have a poster local to the situation or even involved who can … Breaking news events will sometimes involve guns. Keep in mind that breaking news events are not the proper place to argue either side of the gun debate. You can certainly comment on the news event itself, but keep political jabs (including jabs directed at your opponents in the gun debate) out of the breaking news thread. As the guidelines state, feel free to use the breaking news thread as a springboard for whatever views you may have, but post those in a new thread in the appropriate forum (most likely GD, P&E, or the Pit). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/47 "2022-04-04T01:27:34Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > The second post, from a self-described “ammosexual” and “substitute penis fetishist”, Self-described ironically. Meh, I consider posts accusing gun owners of being fetishists mostly to be too childish to be worth responding to. The equivalent of “doody-head”. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/48 "2022-04-04T01:34:41Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Folks, if you’re afraid someone’s going to break down your door and confiscate your firearms, you probably shouldn’t be bragging on social media that you have them. Let’s keep the ATMB discussion about the rules and procedures of the SDMB. If you want to discuss gun related topics, that’s not an ATMB issue. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/49 "2022-04-04T01:39:05Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > If anti and pro folks want to sling sexualized comments back and forth at each other, you know where the Pit is. Keep those types of comments out of MPSIMS breaking news threads. Okay, I’ll buy that putting “ammosexual” in the OP was a bit of a political jab (I’d have called that “borderline”) that maybe didn’t belong in a breaking news thread, as @ParallelLines opined in Post #30. I don’t get that it’s overly or overtly sexualized, beyond mocking gun nuts for their perceived use of guns to cover their sexual insecurities. It’s nothing like the same order of “sexualized” like what Andrew Giuliani said about his 4-month (or 4-year) old daughter, discussed in another recent thread, that was over-the-top creepy. But what I _really_ don’t get is why this Board has become so hypersensitively squeamish about anything even remotely seen as “sexualized”. Take a hint from **Crafter\_Man** : > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’m a gun enthusiast. I suppose I find the term mildly insulting. But I’m a big boy, and can take it. I see no reason for a mod to get involved. Yeah, Andrew Giuliani was deeply creepy and offensive. But have we all become such a community of fragile snowflakes that we are “deeply offended” at “mild” insults like this? And must we be so careful that we never ruffle a single pinfeather on this Board? (Actually, I don’t see this as such a “mild” insult.) Especially toward gun nuts, of whom most of us on this Board are deeply critical? But ok, I get that it didn’t belong in a breaking news thread. (I see that several additional posts have come in while I was typing this, that I haven’t read yet.) ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/50 "2022-04-04T01:45:37Z")
I can get behind your points for breaking news stories, but I still disagree that there’s anything sexual about the term. Yeah, I know, it’s right there in the name, but still, nobody takes it seriously. It is nowhere near the terms that are actually sexualized and actually offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/51 "2022-04-04T01:46:59Z")
> [@GreysonCarlisle](#): > > It is nowhere near the terms that are actually sexualized and actually offensive. But we musn’t se\*ualize! I propose we ban any words containing the letter “x”, or, if they must be used, censor the “x” as I did here. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/52 "2022-04-04T02:08:23Z")
How about just not being an asshole. You know it irritates some people so you simply must say it. You’re being a jerk and an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/53 "2022-04-04T02:16:10Z")
> [@Tom\_Terrific](#): > > You know it irritates some people so you simply must say it. Well, to be sure, this Board does lean mostly liberal/progressive/Democrat, and we like to write things that are irritating to/toward conservatives/right-wingers/Republicans, especially the more extreme ones. The few remaining conservatives on this Board write things that irritate the rest of us too. It’s all good – that’s exactly what prevents this Board from becoming a ghost-town echo chamber, as for example Trump Social quickly became. If we, like **Crafter\_Man** , can just be big boys and big girls, we can take it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/54 "2022-04-04T02:28:19Z")
So, let me make sure I understand the board’s rules. It is okay to be a jerk as long as it is against the conservatives/right wingers/Republicans on the board and the pro gun people are the extreme ones. Right? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/55 "2022-04-04T02:52:40Z")
I wasn’t familiar with that story. I wish I still wasn’t familiar with that story. What a creep. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/56 "2022-04-04T03:32:07Z")
Yeah, that pesky First Amendment. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/57 "2022-04-04T04:03:15Z")
What does the first amendment have to do with rules of a message board? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/58 "2022-04-04T05:04:38Z")
Well, you could call him a gun nit without fear of argument. > [@Snooppuppy](#): > > Ok “Ammosexual” means gun nut. Why is that a problem? if i can call someone a gun nut, why cant i call them a “Ammosexual”? Because it doesn’t. It says that beyond just being a gun nut, he gets actual sexual kicks or has a gun sexual fetish. Look There are car enthusiasts - muscle cars, sports cars, what not. Calling anyone with a car collection or a super car a “car fetishist” would be beyond the pale. There are craft beer, wine, and whiskey enthusiasts- calling them alkies or booze hounds would also be out of bounds. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Meh, I consider posts accusing gun owners of being fetishists mostly to be too childish to be worth responding to. The equivalent of “doody-head”. Yes, also Repthuglians, Demonrats, etc. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Take a hint from **Crafter\_Man** : Sure- _he_ doesn’t mind the insult. Many women casually call each other “bitches”. But generally _we_ don’t use that term here as we do not know who will be deeply insulted and who would just laugh it off. There is no reason to resort to playground name calling. > [@Tom\_Terrific](#): > > How about just not being an asshole. You know it irritates some people so you simply must say it. You’re being a jerk and an asshole. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/59 "2022-04-04T05:27:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Look There are car enthusiasts - muscle cars, sports cars, what not. Calling anyone with a car collection or a super car a “car fetishist” would be beyond the pale. Thing is, I don’t think we really have a beef with collectors, or hunters with hunting rifles, or hobbyist “plinkers”, etc. (Dopers - Am I wrong?) It’s the really whacked out, violent (or at least violent-talking) people like those right-wing militias that have assault rifles, people with whole arsenals in their homes or pick-up trucks, people calling for civil war – those kinds of people that we should perhaps really be worried about. THOSE are the kind of people that I think of as “gun nuts”, not all those others. And I don’t see why we should have any compunction about insulting those, or mocking them with words like “ammosexuals”. Especially in an OP like the one under discussion here, which apparently really was aimed at an unnamed Facebook page full of whacked-out gun nuts, not on this Board, who were not named specifically. And if we’re going to mock them, I don’t know why we need to be squeamish about doing so with a word like “ammosexuals”. The whole point is to be insulting toward actual gun nuts, not toward reasonable gun owners/users. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/60 "2022-04-04T11:00:13Z")
I like how you’re deliberately continuing Fear\_Itself’s mockery of people who get confused between the first amendment’s constraints on the government and the first amendment’s constraints on private organizations. Well played–your satire is very subtle. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/61 "2022-04-04T11:52:22Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And if we’re going to mock them, I don’t know why we need to be squeamish about doing so with a word like “ammosexuals”. While I’m sure it’s fun to imagine some Dopers clutching their pearls and pressing the backs of their hands to their foreheads in helpless squeamishness, that’s not what this is about. It’s about a deliberate push to dismantle language that uses sexuality as a means of dismissive mockery. I can recognize that something is degrading even if I’m not personally offended by it. And I can make an effort to do better. To be better. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/62 "2022-04-04T17:12:23Z")
**Moderator Note** > [@Tom\_Terrific](#): > > You’re being a jerk and an asshole. This type of thing belongs in the Pit, not ATMB. Treat others with respect in this forum. You can say that you disagree with certain types of behaviors, but do not insult anyone outside of the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176/63 "2022-04-04T17:16:34Z")
No argument here. I’m not allowed to be a jerk and he is. He even admits to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-ammosexual-is-a-sexually-offensive-word-now/962176.md?page=4)