It's a horrible, reductive and frequently inaccurate insult which has been used to keep women down for literally centuries and it's really depressing that this is still going on. There's been so much of it on these boards, especially over the past week. English is a rich language, surely we can express ourselves and even indulge in standard MN-mud-slinging at other posters without needing to use this word.
Oh, and before anyone accuses me of trying to police free speech/tell women what to say, I'm not. I'm expressing disappointment that society still finds it necessary to use this word whenever people, particularly women, dare to make statements that are considered troublesome in some way. I'm sure this post is going to attract the usual sneerers, but I don't particularly care.