To not see why 'cunt' is a worse insult than many others?

[HeathcliffMoorland]

I never hear anyone outraged at someone being called a cock/dick/scrotum...

If there's something I'm missing and someone can tell me why I'm BU, I will happily change my ways.

I think its a great word and one women should reclaim. I dislike 'twat' more. Think more aggressive.

'because women are more highly valued than men'

In what way??? I'm genuinely confused now.

Also think men are offended by the fact names for penis are silly and ridiculous. I mean, 'willy', 'cock' etc are just silly aren't they?

yanbu.

Claig...UTTER bollocks! If there are some tabbos about female genitalia then they need smashing up.

Shame, disgust...and shock are the LAST things I want my daughters to associate with their vaginas.

Claig...it's nothing to do with women being more highly valued...if that's so then why do we still earn less than men?

Heathcliffe, your pov is of course the rational , logical, fair pov, and how things ought to be. But sadly words tend to have a certain currency until it is changed by common usage, and atm your pov is how it should be, in theory, but not how it is.

If indeed we wish to use the names of any genitals as swear words.

claig, where exactly do you live where women are more respected than men??? Its certainly not in this world.

And Claig...comparing punching a woman to using a slang word for her genitals is a stupid way to get around the fact that you seem to think cunt is dirty word because vaginas should never be acknowledged.

I like the way that Mumsnetters are "reclaiming" the word in many ways. It's not exactly taboo on here and we should feel proud to have cunts and talk about them.

In the same way as the gay community reclaimed the insult "queer" and used it on their own terms.

Why do you think that anyone who harms a child is an outcast and reprehensible? It is because it is a law of nature. It is similar for women. Nature values women higher than men, because they give birth. Men are of less value and are more expendable.

Men defend insults against their mothers or sisters far more than they defend insults against their fathers or brothers. Some of the greatest insults are to insult mothers.

Rap music has deliberately decreased respect for women and uses insults against women and mothers. But this is against the norm, rap music tries to shock and break taboos.

It's really not as simple as women's genitalia being the worst thing in the world.

The word 'cunt' signifies more than one thing; female genitalia and an awful person.

Look at the word 'pussy'. It signifies female genitalia and a wimp. Why is it different?

It isn't the worst insult. There are words connected to race which are generally considered more offensive, and certainly you would be in more trouble in the workplace if you used certain words connected to race than if you said cunt.

Claig...did I miss something? Who said anything about hurting a child?

It's just a word.

I don't believe in swear words at all to be fair.

This word is BAD!! Why. Honestly? It's a word. Words can't be bad. They're neutral.

They can be used offensively. If you tell someone "you're a fucking cunt" in a really aggressive way that's offensive. But it's not the words that are offensive it's the tone it was said in.

I am lost now!
Women more respected and valued than men...I have heard it all. Utter bunkum.

Claig...I have seen you on here quite lot...never notied you say anything so disgusting as that. "Men are of less value"

It's an awful and very wrong thing to say.

Both sexes are equally needed.

I despise that word, and I hate to hear anyone say it.

I agree, Milly, but I understand why that is.

Claig, how do you think we'd manage the giving birth business if men didn't exist.

Shock at harming a child is not because children are intrinsically more important than adults: Rather because they're vulnerable.

Perceived vulnerability (rightly or wrongly), is also where protection of women stems from, in my experience.

Jesus loves everyone, except you, you Cunt.

I kept that Birthday Card.

The gravity of physically assaulting someone is affected by the shape of their genitalia?

Really?

Thank god he isn't breaking any natural taboos, though.

Tootles...but why? Because you were brought up to...no other reason. It's a word...for vaginas...to relate it to hate is so wrong.

ShanahansRevenge, you're missing everything.
It's not about vaginas not being acknowledged. It's about teh meaning and force of certain words.

Pussy is not as forceful a word as cunt, and is in fact a bit of a joke word as in "Mrs. Slokum's pussy", and it often signifies a male wimp. But cunt does not signify a male wimp.

There's a very interesting book by an American woman called Inga Muscio entitled Cunt: A Declaration of Independence . Her idea is that historically, women's vaginas have been seen as powerful (life-producing, able to bleed without being wounded, etc) and also outside the control of men and therefore cunt became a word of special power.

Calling it a bad word, in Muscio's view, is a ploy to get women to disown the power inherent in the thing.

Bit new agey for my tastes, but interesting!

Interesting that twat means the same thing and yet that is nothing like as "rude".

I hate the word cunt, not because of the semantics, but because of the combination of letters. The c followed by the u, n and t sounds so hard and ugly, especially when spat out so venomously! A very hard and Anglo-Saxon sounding word.