To hate the term 'brat'?

[upsideup]

I'm all for calling a naughty child, a naughty child and I'm not exusing bad behaviour at all, But I just think of brat as just being the child equivelent to the word 'bitch' really and have only ever experianced it being used towards girls and not paticularly naughty ones. I also think its sometimes used with a hint of nastiness and dislike towards the child rather than just calling a naughty child a naughty child.

My eldest dd(10) has always been the most quiet, polite, wellbehaved little girl but yet shes has still been called a brat quite a few times, never in situations when she is actually behaving naughty . However my DS(8) actually going by the definition is a bit of a 'brat' hes a loud, he doesnt listen and if he does listen and hears the rule he will purposely do the opposite (not all the time) but no one has ever refered to him as a brat, he gets called a 'cheeky monkey' or his behaviour is put down to 'boys being boys'. I also have a little boy and girl who are 11 months apart and will be in the same school year, in reality they are both little brats but I can already predict that DD will get it a lot more than DS. Also for my DSD who is now 22 the brats she used to get as a child have quickly turned into 'bitch'

AIBU?
Does anyone actually think the word is applied equally and fairly to just naughty children (both boys and girls)?

What I mean by it being similar to the term bitch is that I think its used in the same way. Its often not actually unpleasent and nasty women that are called bitches its normally just used in spite and towards behaviours/personalities that a man would never be insulted over. At least in my experiance of the word brat, its rarely actually used towards naughty children and is most often applied to just girls.
Rather than describing behaviour bitch is just used to insult women and brat is used to insult little girls rather than factually describe their behaviour, I think its just as derogatory.
Also I see with my DSD without her behavipur or personality changing bitch has just substiutued the brats she used to get and the same people (her DM and her side of her family) who used to call her a brat now call her a bitch, its out of dislike and agression rather than actually being true.

But who is referring to your child as a brat? Generally people don't comment in that way unless behaviour is really really bad

This is going to be one of those threads isn't it?

An insult is insulting and unpleasant?

Hold the front page!!!!! 😱

I don't think it is gendered. I'd use it for a boy just as readily if they were behaving in a spoiled, entitled and rude way.

It's applied to particularly unpleasant children (or applied to mean that a child is very unpleasant even if they aren't), not naughty ones, regardless of gender. Naughty children are wilful, cheeky, ireverant, mischebious etc. Brats are annoying, silly, whiny, spoilt, ungrateful, deliberately unkind/nasty etc. The two are quite different.

Sometimes 'brat' has been used towards dd with slight affection from family members (which obviously I have tried to stop) but just 'isnt she a little brat' or she a 'little bit bratty'. Otherwise it has been used just to insult her, when shes not joined in with others bad behaviour or told an adult she has been called the 'brat' by other children and twice by another parents, shes also been a 'precocious little brat' if she ever trys to explain or question anything usually by older family members or family friends. Around us I think its just used as an insult to throw at a child rather than to actually describe naughty children

It is an insult, it means they behave badly, which is - for most people - insulting to hear.

'Brat' can apply to both boys and girls equally. It's a new idea to me that people reserve it for girls. They don't.

So, you've made up that it's akin to using the word 'bitch' and expect the rest of the world to fall in line with that?

Okay.

I think I've heard it used more for boys than girls, although I don't hear it very often for either.

FitBitFanClub

No? I've only said 'I think', you can think whatever you like.