To think if you object to Bitch, Slut and Whore ...

[ShephardsDelight]

Then words like Wanker, Bastard, Twat and Tosser are off limits too? The blatant double standard is very irritating.

Am I the only one who thinks like this??

Another point is that some words have shifted from their original meaning to become generic swearwords, offensive but not specific.

So if you call someone a twat you are generally not referring to female genitalia, same goes for cunt, if you call someone a bastard it is unlikely that you are talking about them being born out of wedlock, if you use wanker or tosser you are less likely to be referring to their masturbation habits, and bitch you usually aren't thinking of female dogs. (Obviously there are exceptions)

However slut and whore always refer to someone's sexual behaviour real or insinuated.

Bastard, twat, and wanker aren't gender specific
This. Also isn't that the beauty of that MN staple, twunt?

Slut and whore definitely not because it's a statement on your view of how you see someone as behaving, ergo judgemental and only your own view.

Bitch for me is more tied in with someone being bitchy or if someone was 'being a bitch' and I would use it betimes in very specific circs.

I guess it would be more relevant OP to mention terms like bellend and knobend to support your argument though I'm very fond of both in selected instances

I think 'wanker' and 'tosser' just refer to, well, wanking, don't they? They're not about women or men, just an activity.

Bastard I'm not keen on because it implies (literally) that someone's mother and father shouldn't have had unmarried sex, which is a horrible and, historically, misogynistic attitude.

Twat is another misogynistic one.

So yes ... I think you could make a case for bastard and twat being as bad as, say, slut and cunt. Not so sure about the other two.

I don't get why it's a double standard, though? Isn't it just that people are objecting not on groups of it being 'rude language', but because the first set refer to women in a nasty way, and the second set are more mixed?

"Wanker, Tosser etc is only used towards men though, when was the last time you heard' that sue's a right wanker!'"

How dare you insult Sue! But seriously, I have heard it used for women.

bastard isn't gender specific. It has simply come from a word that meant being illegitimate

wanker is from wanking which is mastabatory. Which again, either gender can do. Newflash - women masturbate. Shock horror. twat, well, twat is a word I have heard means female genitals anyway, I am not sure what male state that refers to. tosser. ok, that one I give you. I think that is more male. again, it's just masturbation, which both genders do, but 'tossing one off' is more thought of as the male means by which this is done.

so we've discounted wanker, seeing as both genders do it
we've discounted twat, since its actually a word for female genitals we can actually move it over to the female pile
we've discounted bastard, since it simply means illegitimate.
so we're left with tosser.

Hardly the insult of the century when you compare it with all the horrible names that are thrown at people that are used because of this idea that it's wrong for a woman to be sexual, or to be assertive.

They're all bad with the possible exception of tosser. But you know what's interesting? Bastard and Twat STILL refer more to women than men. A bastard is a Fatherless child....and a twat is a female's genitalia....all derogatory to women.

I'm trying to think of male equivalents to slut and whore, words which are only used for men and which refer to behaviour which, in the opposite gender, would likely be applauded... nope nothing so far..

The thing is *ShephardsDelight" wanker or tosser might be used against men more but wanking is not gender specific. A female can wank - a man cannot be a sexually promiscuous woman or a woman who sleeps with a man for money which is what Slut and Whore describe.

true, MrsM - she wasn't married! She had a child out of wedlock! that child is a bastard... Back to hating the woman.

Just thought of dickhead too.

I think out of all of them, slut and whore are the worst. We have a few multi-lingual friends who taught us how to swear in various languages and I remember them saying the ones that caused greatest offence (and so the ones they didn't ever use) were equivalents of whore - eg. putain in French.

My favourite was trou de cul (arsehole) but that was mainly as it was our French social worker's password at work.

Like others, I use the second set of terms regardless of sex. of the first, I use bitch on occasion, always hated slut and whore though, they ate a different kennel of swearing in my mind.

I like Hecate's post about Tosser being the only genuinely bad male only insult, followed by an x-post with MrsMushroom saying that Tosser is the least offensive. Funny that the least offensive insult is the only male specific one.

Level, not kennel

Hecate Love your username

I guess an actually equivalent to "whore" would be "rentboy", can you imagine the outrage?!

Confused So "slut" and "whore" are in a different kennel to "bitch"?

May I ask, where do fuck/fucker/fucking etc stand in gender terms?

I tend to think of them as fairly gender-equal, though I probably would call a man a stupid fucker sooner than a woman.

This is the test.

Would you call somebody you liked a tosser? Or a twat? Or a bastard? Might you call your dp one of those in semi affectionate exasperation? Many people would. Now, what if he called you a slut or a whore?

Jammy I'd say equal. Have seen them used pretty equally.

I think bitch is kind of okay, not on the same level as whore etc which I don't call people. bitch is just like cow to me
Never call men wanker knobhead etc mainly cos these words just seem gross

imogen me too We should reclaim it, ALL THE BASTARDS UNITE

I love using "cunt" as a swear word, it is a hard, sharp sound word that you can properly spit out. Even whispered it sounds vicious. Can't think of another word with the same vocal and aural feel to it.

Little uncomfortable with the history behind it, but it does the job so damn well

I don't think older women like me will ever be comfortable with "cunt". The history of its use as a swear word is so hideous, I, for one can't get past it. Maybe it'll take a generation or two.....

It seems to be going that way, the generation below mine seem barely aware of it's origins. Same as my generation weren't generally aware of the meaning behind "bastard".