Is the word ‘cunt’ misogynistic in the U.K.?

It's interesting though - I very rarely use this word, but when I do, it is always against men

When I was a kid at school I didn’t really hear the word it’s definitely used a lot more I hate the word.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gropecunt_Lane

In England it is the worst swear word.

There is history to it. It used to be a word which was just a descriptor. It's misogyny that says this word is obscene, actually.

Roads called 'grope cunt lane' have been renamed.

quite not write

I don't find it any more offensive than fuck as a swear, but it annoys me intensely, as a pp said, that it's considered the worst of all swears and it describes a woman's genitalia. Men's genitalia seems to be write low level swearing... dick, cock, etc.

Yes

It's not just used for women in the UK.

It is the 'worst' of swearwords though. The fact that a word for vagina is the most obscene word is definitely misogynistic.

Interestingly though different cultures have different ideas about hierarchy of swearwords.

EG bugger is mild and even affectionate where I live. Ditto sod. Both are referencing anal sex with homophobic undertones.

But people who won't say fuck are happy to say sod that, or silly buggers.

@tilder that is the etymology. I particularly don't like the scabbard connotation. It smacks of men as violent weapons attacking women's genitalia. Yuk.

Dido, not claptrap, but a bit of a wry comment and certainly from my own experience - I work with people from all walks of life and seem to have become desensitized to hearing it being used in the positive freindly or neutral descriptive sense in Glasgow.

Tbh I’ve only ever heard men calling it each other so although I’d be a bit if a man called it a women I’d be more affronted if he called her a Bitch.

It's an insult but not one I get that bothered about as it's fairly generic in Scotland and usually gets uttered by drunks to anyone of either sex who pisses them off.

Yes, it is as Scrimshaw said. It is vicious when directed as an insult at a woman but is often excused as harmless or not misogynistic.

I do not like the use of cunt as an insult. I suppose it's misogynistic in that it uses a definitively female part to slur a person with plain nastiness. So female=bad. Unlike arse. I'd far rather call a person an arse - a producer of crap. Very straightforward. No comment on their sex or anybody else's. Dick seems less misandrist, because it refers to a behaviour, implies a man who has given up his thinking ability to his dick - something which women cannot do.

I think a MNer may have said it:

"Please do not call this creature a tit or a cunt. Tits & cunts belong to women. They are useful things & serve a purpose. Humankind would not have survived without tits & cunts."

Hm. I've tried reclaiming it, during my phase of what is generally called 'liberal feminism', round here. It's used as a vitriolic misogynistic slur. I don't use it.

It’s just a word.

I run a department within a B cat male prison. It's the one word I won't allow in my presence.

Maddening that we have been socialised to believe that a word for female genitalia is too horrifying for public use... Have a look at Reclaiming Cunt from Eve Ensler's fabulous Vagina Monologues 😉

I don’t think so.
Obviously if you look at the etymology of the word, then it is, but when you look at the usage it most certainly isn’t aimed solely at women the way it is in say, the US.
Men here use it towards other men frequently

@Bmidreams XD

So not “claptrap” but I’m assuming from your use of that word when most people would say “bollocks” you are not a fan of swearing in general

Why would I aspire to be like "most people"?

@chipperfish There is a place in North Wales where 'Iawn cont?' (Ok cunt?) is used as a term of endearment between friends XD

Ok, so not every Scottish person ever uses it, but it certainly is a common use of the word in many circles here. So not “claptrap” but I’m assuming from your use of that word when most people would say “bollocks” you are not a fan of swearing in general

I find the competitive swearing on MN tedious in the extreme. I think it's silly, childish and unimaginative "ooh look at me, I'm so uninhibited"

The constant assertion that everyone in Scotland goes around swearing cheerfully at their friends has certainly not been my experience of 61 years living in various places , including Glasgow.

It can be used in context of being a beautiful and historic word, yes. But more often the intent aligns with the misogyny, I think.

Is that what vagina means MrsTerryPratchett? Didn't know that. It's horrible, as if that is it's whole purpose.