...... to think it is profoundly anti feminist to use the word "cunt"...

[BertrandRussell]

....to describe, for example, an abusive violent man? I find the idea that, when looking for a word to describe awful, awful behaviour, we use a word for women's genitals horribly misogynistic.

Or am I just stuck in the 70s?

I'm not. I'm saying what I think.

In fact, a lot of people in this thread seem unhealthily invested in telling me what to think! Or
At least that what I think is very, very wrong.......

Oh bollocks. .

I'm going to have to stop using it aren't I?

Do I get to keep twat then?

Dick is very mild yes in comparison. But if I were a scout leader I'd probably pop it in the box marked 'no'.

In fact, a lot of people in this thread seem unhealthily invested in telling me what to think!

Not enjoying the shoe on the other foot, BertrandRussell? It's rather rich coming from someone who's rather infamous for their preachy behaviour and supposedly infallible opinions.

"Not enjoying the shoe on the other foot, BertrandRussell?"
Don't mind at all, Edmund. I like having my convictions challenged. It makes me think about whether I still agree with them. I've been thinking about many of my opinions since before some Mumsnetters were hborn. I don't care whether anyone else changes her mind or not-(although of course I'd like it if they did!) But I do find it quite entertaining how cross other people get when I don't immediately change mine when told to!

But I do find it quite entertaining how cross other people get when I don't immediately change mine when told to!

No one has told you to change your mind. You make no sound to show you can even find a compromise in a different opinion, it only reads as if you want to show that you're right and there cannot possibly be an argument against your unproven opinions.

I like having my convictions challenged.

Must be rather boring when you evidently have zero interest in changing one iota of your convictions, the ones you have apparently held for over 30 years (if since I personally was born). That's not a challenge or debate, it's just you sitting on high saying 'ah, I knew I was right' whilst the rest of us plebs just argued amongst each other.

Handbags. A severe case of.

"You make no sound to show you can even find a compromise in a different opinion, it only reads as if you want to show that you're right and there cannot possibly be an argument against your unproven opinions."

You have one opinion- i have a different one. You haven't convinced me to change my mind, i haven't convinced you to change yours. I'm not sure how either of us could reach a compromise when we appear to have no common ground. The difference is, I'm not expecting you to!

BertrandRussell
And I thought, until this thread at least, that it was universally accepted that dick is a much milder insult than cunt- I am very surprised to discover that some people don't think that. I use dick to my ds in the phrase "Don't be a dick, mate" which is a quotation from something or other-and, in my mind, pretty mild. In fact, I think I have heard his Scout Leader use it!

Yes, I would expect most people to consider Dick to be milder. But that is not enough to explain why you are happy to use it given your stance on the use of Cunt. It is an entirely inconsistent approach. In the absence of a proper explanation, I can only assume that you are happy to apply different rules.

I thought MrsHathaway's comment below was interesting and might also shed light on some other perspectives on this thread:

And I've learned that in some of the darker regions of the internet, "Cunt" is used to mean "woman" within a community that is violently misogynistic. Using that word therefore feels as though I'm aligning myself with that worldview which in fact I decidedly and wholeheartedly reject.

You have made an assumption Bertrand that other people are cross.

I, for example, am not inthe least cross. Just mildly amused by your cognitive disssonance that you deploy.

I don’t see people being cross on this thread. But, of course, you state it as fact, therefore it must be true and will be repeated by you as fact. When there’s no evidence of it.

And, after all, you are the one who asks others for links to back up opinion.

I don't care whether anyone else changes her mind or not-(although of course I'd like it if they did!) But I do find it quite entertaining how cross other people get when I don't immediately change mine when told to!

I love it when people vehemently proclaim ‘I don’t care!’ As it invariably means they do. And of course, they also find it so entertaining. Yeah, right. Lols.

"Yes, I would expect most people to consider Dick to be milder. But that is not enough to explain why you are happy to use it given your stance on the use of Cunt. It is an entirely inconsistent approach. In the absence of a proper explanation, I can only assume that you are happy to apply different rules."

Well, yes, I am happy to apply different rules! As I said, I think using cunt as an insult is deeply misogynistic- using dick isn't.

You haven't convinced me to change my mind, i haven't convinced you to change yours

Well firstly, as I have been saying for a few posts now, you never seemed to have an intention of changing your opinion. It reads as if we were meant to take your beliefs on the matter and admire your superior knowledge. That is evident by the fact you proudly state you've held these convictions since before many of us were born - people who have not changed their minds in decades are very unlikely to do so from a few days internet chat, are they?

More the point, it's not really up to us to change your opinion. You started this thread, it was up to you to prove your point of view and convince us. Opinions and beliefs are just empty words without any fact to back them up, so this thread was just pointless preaching rather an opportunity to have a relatively interesting discussion about linguistics and history.

I have very rarely heard anyone, man or women, call a man a bitch

But you have heard it. As have I, not super frequently, but enough for it not to be surprising or strange.

I'm honestly not sure what point you're trying to make now, aside from reinforcing the point that you're not amenable to being wrong...

"Cunt" = misogyny. Ergo "dick" = misandry?

If the true aim of feminism is equality, why is one acceptable and the other not? Surely you would apply the same rules?

Bitch is gender specific. As is "you daft mare" for example. Cock is gender specific too, a male chicken. "He's cock-a-hoop!"

I think I'll post in "Site Stuff" & ask MNHQ to create a new board -

"Bertrand's Broadcasts"

No "reply" facility.

You could fill your boots then & the rest of us could then ignore it....

"Cunt" = misogyny. Ergo "dick" = misandry?

Sleep has saved me some typing. Bertrand, are you trying to redress the balance/happy to apply different rules because of the misogynistic society in which we live - are men fair game?

"That is evident by the fact you proudly state you've held these convictions since before many of us were born"

No I didn't. I said I have been ^thinking" about some of my opinions for a long time.

And when I said I have not heard men being called bitches very often, what I was trying to say is that there is a tendency to minimize the abuse thrown at women by saying "well, men get called that too" "it's the same for men" when it really isn't. And, to be fair, I was just agreeing with another poster!

"Sleep has saved me some typing. Bertrand, are you trying to redress the balance/happy to apply different rules because of the misogynistic society in which we live - are men fair game?"

No, I apply different rules because society does. We collectively as a society in this country have ranked our swear words. The rankings are different in other countries.My father was Australian-his endearment of choice was buggerlugs. My SIL tells me that in Spain whatever the Spanish for "fuck off" is is considered appropriate for children to use. ( disclaimer-I have no idea whether this is universal or just in her circle).

We have decided that our worst swear is cunt. There has to be a reason for that. And to me, Occam's Razor suggests misogeny.

And no, I don't think men are fair game. Whatever that means.

We have decided that our worst swear is cunt. There has to be a reason for that. And to me, Occam's Razor suggests misogeny

But "we" decided that hundreds of years ago, so it is meaningless now.It says nothing at all about misogyny NOW.
Your analysing why a word means what it does but you're doing it in the entirely wrong context and framework.

Which only makes it even more of a pointless and navel gazing exercise than it already is.

But "we" decided that hundreds of years ago, so it is meaningless now.It says nothing at all about misogyny NOW."

But other words have moved up and down the scale-cunt has stayed resolutely in the same place.

I don't agree. I think you're starting from a faulty premise.