# 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:** 2
**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, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/21 "2001-12-05T01:43:59Z")
[hijack] I first registered this name on a MB that did not accept punctuation. In addition, at the time, I had a bad case of post modernism and was allergic to capital letters and spaces. Thus, my intention, **The Grim Spectre O’ Fred Death** is often misinterpreted as **The Grim Spectre Of Red Death**. The name, itself, remains my only post modern work of art, and thus I leave it to stand alone, with no explanation. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/22 "2001-12-05T01:45:05Z")
I just referred to a man as a skank in an email. It was entirely appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecc23a/32.png) [@Jet\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Black)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/23 "2001-12-05T01:45:11Z")
Gender in language? Never use it. I don’t get hysterical over that stuff. Jet Black ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/24 "2001-12-05T01:45:30Z")
Yeah, but using “one” all the time is freaking annoying as well. One gets tired of reading about what one could do if their strict parents would let them. See? Because the third person objective and possesive are the same as the “gender neutral” one’s. Grr… At one point, people just used he when they refered to a single person, and everybody knew that it was possibly indeterminant. Alas, those days are gone, and this one has to go to class… Tenebras ---
**Author:** ![CnoteChris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/278dde/32.png) [@CnoteChris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CnoteChris)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/25 "2001-12-05T01:48:15Z")
I hope you’re including ‘dick’ in there too. I mean, that’s gender based as well. ---
**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, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/26 "2001-12-05T01:52:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tenebras \* > **Yeah, but using “one” all the time is freaking annoying as well. One gets tired of reading about what one could do if their strict parents would let them. See? Because the third person objective and possesive are the same as the “gender neutral” one’s. Grr… At one point, people just used he when they refered to a single person, and everybody knew that it was possibly indeterminant.** I use “he” in everything that I don’t write for my CC professors. One I think scans better than “he or she” in most places…and one’s self (oneself, I forget at the moment which is correct) is MUCH better than himself or herself. ---
**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, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/27 "2001-12-05T01:55:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CnoteChris \* > \*\*I hope you’re including ‘dick’ in there too. I mean, that’s gender based as well. \*\* I felt it would be both repetitive and redundant to list every insult based on the male genitalia. For example, you will note that “Nutsack” is also not present. I felt that this particular genre was most commonly represented by “Prick”, so that was the only word that I placed on the list. ---
**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, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/28 "2001-12-05T01:58:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by thegrimspectreofreddeath \* > \*\*[hijack] > Thus, my intention, **The Grim Spectre O’ Fred Death** is often misinterpreted as **The Grim Spectre Of Red Death**. > [/hijack] \*\* What kind of idiot would misread it like that? ---
**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, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/29 "2001-12-05T02:01:22Z")
**Scylla** : Not your kind, apparently. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/30 "2001-12-05T02:41:26Z")
> [@](#): > > 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.” You could al=ways use the word “hir”. I’ve never seen an insult that was exclusive to one gender. Thus in this happy world you can both be a prick and a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Ooner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@Ooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ooner)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/31 "2001-12-05T02:46:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scylla \* > \*\*What kind of idiot would misread it like that? \*\* Hmm… Every post of grim’s I had read before the few in this thread, I skipped “red” completely and just assumed **thegrimspectreofdeath** Upon reading the question as to who Fred is, I reread it, thought you were joking, and indeed read it as “The Grim Spectre of Red Death” And finally, after reading grim’s explanation, I correctly understand it. So, to answer your question: me, but not until after you said something. Before I was misreading it in a completely different and original way. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/32 "2001-12-05T03:05:37Z")
“Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch.” Pushing for gender-neutral language detracts from important feminist issues. Pay-equity, for instance. Chinese has always been gender-neutral, which must be why sexism has been virtually unheard of in China throughout the ages. :rolleyes: To equate the use of gender-specific language with misogyny is beyond trivial- it’s counter-productive. That being said, I find it interesting that words for male genitalia (eg: `dick,' `prick,’ `dink,' `pecker,’ etc.) are only applied derisively to _men_, while a certain anglo-saxon monosyllable which refers to female genitalia is bestowed on men & women alike. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/33 "2001-12-05T03:13:05Z")
I’m not just a bitch, I’m The Bitch. And it’s Miss Bitch to you. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/34 "2001-12-05T03:33:12Z")
I like calling chicks “asshole” because it surprises them. (FTR, I rarely insult anyone because I’m angry. Generally, it’s like, “You _asshole!!!_ You ate the last bagel!” or something. The surprise of “asshole” adds to the comedy.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/35 "2001-12-05T03:40:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > How about Mr. Roosevelt’s Reformed Language? Referring to Teddy, of course, the Republican one. > – Uke, who often calls chicks assholes. I thot Mr. Rosevelt’s reform onli was for simplifying speling. I had no idea it wuz for speach as wel. –John, who still stands by his statement “A son of a bitch is a son of a bitch, be they male or female” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/36 "2001-12-05T03:43:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gomez \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Hmm genderless language. I don’t like it. Shall we just revert to newsspeak? > > Noooo, that would be DOUBLE,DOUBLE ungood! \*\* No, that would be _doubleplusungood_. Learn to speak the language, you oldthinkful furriner… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/37 "2001-12-05T03:46:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Angel of the Lord \* > **I use “he” in everything that I don’t write for my CC professors.** I use “they” (them, their, etc) in pretty much everything I write. 🙂 YMMV. A favourite web-page: [Singular “their” in Jane Austen and elsewhere: Anti-pedantry page.](http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/linghebr/austheir.html) ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/38 "2001-12-05T04:46:35Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Kamandi** _ > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by **thegrimspectreofreddeath** _ > > > > **For the Ladies: Some Exclusively Male Insults** > > > > Fag\*\* > > uh-oh… Agreed. \ Ya just can’t win… Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/39 "2001-12-05T04:51:38Z")
[hijack] Ah… Jet Black. Been seeing his stuff all over the place lately, let’s see: 1. Posts well in most/ all forums. 2. Nice sig. 3. Hilariously subtle quote in this thread: > [@](#): > > Gender in language? Never use it. I don’t get hysterical over that stuff. Best newbie ever. [/hijack] –John ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2001, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927/40 "2001-12-05T05:21:22Z")
Note to self: RJ determine genderspeak doubleplusungood. Requires Newspeak. Remove genderref fm comms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-misogyny-at-sdmb/96927.md?page=3)