CUNT

[crazystairs]

I just had somebody tell me that they didn't see what the big problem with calling a woman a "cunt" was. He's a 24 year old white man. Am I wrong here? Should I not make such a big deal about this? He says it's "just a word". It makes me really upset that he doesn't see this as an issue. I'm literally crying in rage and sadness. What has this world

Comments

[majickbunny]

I don't want to start any argument here, but I figured I'd chime in with my two cents. Obviously I'm not a woman, I'm one of those privileged white males, and perhaps that makes any point I have on social and gender politics invalid to begin with. I will say this, any word used in any context is just a word. People can only get as angry at a word as they let themselves get. Context is key, but it is of course not everything. To use it in the form of attempting to degrade a female for the pure fact that she is female, sure, that's pretty offensive. Then again, is it cunt that is offensive, or just the lowlife's overall opinion of women? To use it as a run of the mill adjective describing someone you're displeased with, well, I dare say that's a little less on the offensive side, and a little more on the tactless side. Is a woman being derogatory towards a man when she calls him a dick? Sometimes I'm sure, but probably not mostly. It's pointless to attempt to degrade a woman with cunt, a woman is far more than the sum of her genitals,

[crazystairs]

JJ, the argument you make is clear and concise. And while I continue to feel that is is the height of crudeness to call a woman a cunt, I appreciate your attempt to discuss this logically. The person I had been speaking to didn't make near as a convincing argument. He just stuck to the fact that it was just a word. As a white, heterosexual male, I think it's very hard for him to understand the power one word can have when used in such a hateful way. And I don't even know how to explain that to him. He's one of those people who has to get the last word in.