# Subtle Misogyny at SDMB **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 5, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927 "2001-12-05T00:25:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/1 "2001-12-05T00:25:38Z")
Since when is the feminine form of every single obscene noun _bitch_? Can we please be a little more creative and a little less reflexively sexist? If you can call a man who is the object of your ire an asshole or a jerk or a fuckwad, why can’t you offer the same consideration to a female irritant? I get really tired of seeing words like “bitch” and “skank” and “whore” in every single Pit thread referring to a woman. By using such words you subtly include the person’s gender in your insult; might as well refer to their race or their sexual orientation, IMHO. Thank you for your consideration. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/2 "2001-12-05T00:30:53Z")
Good point. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/3 "2001-12-05T00:36:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > \*\*Since when is the feminine form of every single obscene noun _bitch_? > > Can we please be a little more creative and a little less reflexively sexist? If you can call a man who is the object of your ire an asshole or a jerk or a fuckwad, why can’t you offer the same consideration to a female irritant? \*\* Why not just get rid of gender in our language? Marc ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/4 "2001-12-05T00:37:30Z")
Um, Marc, that’s kind of what I’m suggesting. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/5 "2001-12-05T00:44:29Z")
lissener - I, for one, do not always refer to women as “bitches” in the Pit. I refer to men as “bitches” also. It’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/6 "2001-12-05T00:45:57Z")
I didn’t notice this before, but I suppose you have a point. On the other hand, aren’t terms like “asshole” and “bastard” still relatively often used just to denote males? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/7 "2001-12-05T00:47:50Z")
Oo, Matt, you can refer to _me_ as your bitch any time you want. :o ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/8 "2001-12-05T00:49:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > Since when is the feminine form of every single obscene noun _bitch_? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by lissener in the very same post_ > I get really tired of seeing words like “bitch” and “skank” and “whore” in every single Pit thread referring to a woman. Nice job refuting your own thesis there! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/9 "2001-12-05T00:50:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > **I get really tired of seeing words like “bitch” and “skank” and “whore” in every single Pit thread referring to a woman. By using such words you subtly include the person’s gender in your insult; might as well refer to their race or their sexual orientation, IMHO.** Well, crap. I suppose I’ll just shelve that rant about that white, lesbian bitch for a few more months, then. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/10 "2001-12-05T00:53:09Z")
Dammit, I take _pride_ in being a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/11 "2001-12-05T00:53:29Z")
> [@](#): > > - Originally posted by MGibson and affirmed by lissener\* > **Why not just get rid of gender in our language?** Okay. Not to hijack or anything (you know I’m about to), but this anti-gender-language thing really, really pisses me off. Why the hell do my professors want me to write “he or she” in my papers? It’s clunky. I get away from it by using “one,” but a lot of people don’t use this trick and have to use “he or she.” And people who use “she” just to avoid offending women. God, I hate that. Those who alternate between he and she in academic papers should, IMHO, be flogged. It’s confusing. Pick one. Those people who get _offended_ by the use of the word “he” piss me off, too. Get a life. It doesn’t hurt you, and it’s not predjudiced against you. Christ. /soapbox ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/12 "2001-12-05T01:02:28Z")
Hmm genderless language. I don’t like it. Shall we just revert to newsspeak? Nonoffensive insults seem about useful as a glass hammer. And, personally, I try to be all-embracing in the scope and magnitude of my insults. I like to consider everything I know about the person, race, gender shoe size, fast food preference, eyebrow thickness, the whole deal. That way when I insult the person, I insult them as a gestalt. I insult the whole person in their totality. By seeking to insult the whole person I show that gender is not an issue, because I feel free to address it. It only becomes an issue if I’m unwilling or unable to. Finally, what makes a good insult is not the deliverer, but how it is perceived by the receiver. If a person is not sensitive about their gender, by making your insult gender specific you’re wasting effort. However, if the person is gender sensitive, than insulting them in a gender specific way makes for the more effective insult. Fishbone said it best: > [@](#): > > Lying piece of sack of shit, slut trashcan, scummist dirtbag… **BITCH!!!** It kind of tells a story that isn’t there without the gender specificity. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/13 "2001-12-05T01:14:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > **Hmm genderless language. I don’t like it. Shall we just revert to newsspeak?** How about Mr. Roosevelt’s Reformed Language? Referring to Teddy, of course, the Republican one. – Uke, who often calls chicks assholes. ---
**Author:** ![Gomez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@Gomez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gomez)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/14 "2001-12-05T01:18:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Hmm genderless language. I don’t like it. Shall we just revert to newsspeak? Noooo, that would be DOUBLE,DOUBLE ungood! ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/15 "2001-12-05T01:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lissener \* > By using such words you subtly include the person’s gender in your insult; might as well refer to their race or their sexual orientation, IMHO. I disagree with the analogy. When you use an insult that consists _solely_ of race or sexual orientation, you are using the very fact of race and sexual orientation as the insult, thereby insulting _all_ members of that group. By contrast, the term “bitch” does not apply to all women - only to a small subset that contain qualities that you consider negative. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/16 "2001-12-05T01:34:41Z")
**lissener** , as a woman and a feminist, can I just say that there are more important things to worry about than being called a bitch? For crissakes. ---
**Author:** ![Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/db5fbb/32.png) [@Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fred)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/17 "2001-12-05T01:36:45Z")
**For the Ladies: Some Exclusively Male Insults** Prick Son of a Bitch Fag Little Dick Motherfucker Pussy Dirty Old Man I hope this list was helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/18 "2001-12-05T01:38:36Z")
Who’s Fred Death and why are you his grim spectre? ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/19 "2001-12-05T01:41:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by thegrimspectreofreddeath \* > \*\ ***For the Ladies: Some Exclusively Male Insults** > > Fag\*\* uh-oh… ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/20 "2001-12-05T01:43:27Z")
I honestly believe no degrading words would be used except it seems to be “expected” in the pit. Perhaps the pit itself tends to make the word prevalent. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927.md?page=2)