For the record, I think I generally do like you, as you seem to be eloquent and well-spoken, and while I see your defensiveness as excessive and somewhat hostile, I do know that you have reason to feel this way and I respect that.
I appreciate that, and thank you. I do get hostile, particularly in the face of egregious sexism; I admit that my combativeness can be a fatal flaw, but I simply can't help it when someone is being really, horribly sexist (or racist, homophobic, etc.).
Yes, bitch and cunt and pussy are generally not ever seen as positive in any way. But I've got guy friends that would absolutely LOVE to be called girly, and I've got girl friends that would LOATHE being called manly.
Those are individuals, though, and we're not talking about things on the individual level. I'd hate to be called manly, too. But culturally and societally speaking, being considered or called things that mean "like a man" are positive, while being considered or called things that mean "like a woman" are intensely negative. The prevalence of insults like those listed above are proof of this. The vast majority of common gendered insults are female-oriented. The most severe are female-oriented, as well.
And generally the male equivalent does not carry the same weight, you're right. But that still doesn't make it okay.
Okay? I don't remember saying that gendered insults were ever okay. I do tend to care less about male-oriented insults, though, simply because a) there aren't many of them and b) they are so far lacking in severity that they're hardly worth my time. I police my own language to avoid slurs against women because they're offensive and sexist. However, slurs against men are not sexist (because again, you cannot be sexist against a man), so I don't feel the need to police my language the same way. (Though I do tend to use "jerk" or "jackass" a lot more often than I use "dick"... which is the only male-oriented insult I can actually think of right now. Which is kind of telling, isn't it?)
Misogyny started somewhere. It hasn't always been a problem.
Actually, yeah, it has always been a problem. The freaking Bible is one of the most sexist pieces of literature out there. Misogyny has been a problem more or less throughout recorded history. How do you honestly not know this? I want to know, because seriously, your teachers in high school did not do their jobs. For how many centuries were women denied the right to even hold a job? To be anything but mothers and homemakers? To be anything but a mother, period? To vote? (Protip: Women got the right to vote in 1920. Before that, only white men could vote. Think about that when you say things like "misogyny hasn't always been a problem".) Words and phrases denigrating women or using a comparison to women as an insult have existed for even longer -- I remember an insulting scrawl found in some ancient Greek ruins claiming so-and-so was "weak like a woman", which iirc predated the Roman empire.
Re: Are there any men watching?
I appreciate that, and thank you. I do get hostile, particularly in the face of egregious sexism; I admit that my combativeness can be a fatal flaw, but I simply can't help it when someone is being really, horribly sexist (or racist, homophobic, etc.).
Yes, bitch and cunt and pussy are generally not ever seen as positive in any way. But I've got guy friends that would absolutely LOVE to be called girly, and I've got girl friends that would LOATHE being called manly.
Those are individuals, though, and we're not talking about things on the individual level. I'd hate to be called manly, too. But culturally and societally speaking, being considered or called things that mean "like a man" are positive, while being considered or called things that mean "like a woman" are intensely negative. The prevalence of insults like those listed above are proof of this. The vast majority of common gendered insults are female-oriented. The most severe are female-oriented, as well.
And generally the male equivalent does not carry the same weight, you're right. But that still doesn't make it okay.
Okay? I don't remember saying that gendered insults were ever okay. I do tend to care less about male-oriented insults, though, simply because a) there aren't many of them and b) they are so far lacking in severity that they're hardly worth my time. I police my own language to avoid slurs against women because they're offensive and sexist. However, slurs against men are not sexist (because again, you cannot be sexist against a man), so I don't feel the need to police my language the same way. (Though I do tend to use "jerk" or "jackass" a lot more often than I use "dick"... which is the only male-oriented insult I can actually think of right now. Which is kind of telling, isn't it?)
Misogyny started somewhere. It hasn't always been a problem.
Actually, yeah, it has always been a problem. The freaking Bible is one of the most sexist pieces of literature out there. Misogyny has been a problem more or less throughout recorded history. How do you honestly not know this? I want to know, because seriously, your teachers in high school did not do their jobs. For how many centuries were women denied the right to even hold a job? To be anything but mothers and homemakers? To be anything but a mother, period? To vote? (Protip: Women got the right to vote in 1920. Before that, only white men could vote. Think about that when you say things like "misogyny hasn't always been a problem".) Words and phrases denigrating women or using a comparison to women as an insult have existed for even longer -- I remember an insulting scrawl found in some ancient Greek ruins claiming so-and-so was "weak like a woman", which iirc predated the Roman empire.