What is the Worst Thing You Can Call a Woman?

You've hit the nail on the head, though, Eats.
The power of an insult depends on its being 'taken seriously'.

"I spit upon your ancestors"

'You'll have a job trying to find them' would be my response to that...

Oh, I've just remembered somebody did once tell me "I spit upon your ancestors". This was clearly meant to indicate deep loathing. Unfortunately for him, my only reaction was - well, none.

YY, Mango, and calling me a foreskin is never going to work

You have to choose your insult according to your victim.

No, I haven't said that at all, Eats.
But if the recipient of an insult has the confidence, brass neck or whatever to deny the 'validity' of an insult, then the insult loses its power.

So, for example, if a stereotypical straight man calls me 'greasy faced, grey haired old dyke' then, however rude that is, it only holds its value as an 'insult' if I actually desire the approval of that man. Without my desire for that man's approval, what he has just said is simply an ill mannered comment.

Agree, some over-thinking may be in evidence. Also quite a few 'facts' based on rigid gender assumptions.

As another 5'8", sturdy peasant type, I've often been thought a transsexual (I'm a hetero woman). This happens mostly in countries where people are smaller & lighter of build, women tend to have more pronounced femininity - and there is an accepted social stratum of intersex 'women'. It's no more than a genuine social error in those circumstances. (I was once followed all the way through a mall by a gaggle of teenage girls, hotly debating whether I'm a man or woman! Didn't let them know I understood, just chuckled to meself.)

Over here, if anyone tries to insult me by calling me 'like a man' or 'a tranny', I ask them what they mean. What they mean is always something I'm content with; they're just displaying their own preconceptions & sexism. Oh, exception: I can't wear frilly frocks: to be fair, I do look like a badly-dressed transvestite in them!! Especially if my hair's gone flicky-up at the ends.

I've had loads of arguments interesting discussions with retrograde, hetero males who've done the "OMG, I went to pub and realised it was a GAY bar!!" horror display. What they find scary is that they think (conceitedly) that they'll become prey for all those scary gay men. What this shows is that they think of themselves as predators in a mixed, hetero situation. They've also never registered that the majority of the women they 'prey' upon have politely rebuffed them, just as they could if a gay man were to hit on them.

What about cultural differences? Arab cultures may be horrendously sexist, but their insults are mostly penis-related: "Describing someone as a 'fatah' (foreskin) is considered a grave insult"

This is an entertaining, informative page!

So all these insults play on the idea that the insultee 'fails' to conform to gender stereotypes. That's all, really.
But then, the value of any insult can be influenced by the response of the recipient. So if an insult simply fails to work - i.e. fails to insult/hurt/shock/offend, then it's no longer valuable to the insultor/abuser.

OMG can I just confirm the man who called me tranny had not seen in my pants - I have a fanny. Jeez.

I think the worst thing you can call a woman is 'mannish' or 'butch'. I was called a 'tranny' by a bloke once and a crowd of blokes called me 'chief'. That was harsh. I'm only 5'8" and a size 16

The insult I hear most commonly for both sexes is wanker.

You're over thinking this.

MY DH is not a misogynist. He absolutely is not.

'Misogyny runs pretty deep through most men. And Het men seem to pretty fixated on the issue of gay men having anal sex - which is based on misogyny'

Really most men hate women?

Spsfango

Hilarious.......

I hate pejorative terms for female genitalia personally- minge, flange, beef curtains, axe wound, ad nauseum. Sadly I quite like 'puss' or 'pussy' .

But a man? Paedo, Impotent, the good old fashioned 'Cuckold' - Chaucer got so much right.....'Husband of the woman I'm fucking' is one I sadly heard once- that's gotta smart, needle dick, walnut whip (think penile shape for those mystified)

Insult his potency...publicly.

I think we will not agree on this one, Eats, so I will drop this now. We are getting away from the OP, which didn't seem to hold much water with most respondents.

Eats, I fail to follow your last point to any sort of conclusion. Het men cannot denigrate gay men for carrying out an act that they indulge in themselves. It would be like accusing them of masturbating - the response would be 'so what?!?'

Are you telling me how het men feel, Eats? I have been bollocked for 'mansplaining' how women feel on issues .

In my experience, it isn't the anal sex hang-up you describe. Indeed, most het men these days seem to experiment with it with their partners.

Christ omfg.

I hate to say it, but it is likely that sooner or later she will run into some bad luck (hopefully not too serious of course) and that will change her mind. As she learns more about business she will probably learn how precarious it can be and that it's perfectly possible to go from millions to nothing in a day.