To be enormously offended by the C-word

[AmericasfavoritefightingFrenchman]

So today a man called me a c* during an argument, and I was assured by everyone around, including three women, that this is no longer an insulting word, not shocking or taboo, and that I was unreasonable to be enormously offended.

This idea is shocking to me. Surely it’s very offensive and deeply misogynistic? I was definitely offended, and hurt that the women I was with thought it was no big deal.

Or am I unreasonable? Is it so unoffensive these days as to be a casual, unremarkable part of conversation?

Cross post with @elderberryink

Weirdly I find it very offensive to call some a cunt but to say someone is being a cunt. Ie. I would say "stop being a cunt" but never "you are a cunt". Never thought about it before so not sure why!

I would see it as verbal abuse because of the context - I’m not bothered by its general use but it’s the difference between someone saying “that’s fucking hilarious” and “you utter fucker” (in anger/threat etc) - the former is fine, the latter is directed at someone in a way that’s designed to insult and possibly intimidate

@Butchyrestingface two of the women were younger than me, 20-30 age bracket. One was older than me, might have been the guy’s mum though. He was probably younger than me 🤷‍♀️

Sometimes there's no other word that will do but mostly there is

As @YellowAndGreenToBeSeen has pointed out, to the extent that the word cunt has any special extra powers it's the pearl-clutchers who actually imbue it with them!

Literally in describing female genitalia and using them as an insult it means the same as twat and pussy - those words don't carry special powers because no one gasps or takes them seriously.

No, I don't think so

If someone said to me “oh you daft cunt…” it wouldn’t bother me but if I was called a cunt in the middle of an argument I’d be upset about it. So YANBU in finding it offen

sorry posted too soon🙄

YANBU in finding it offensive in the context it was used towards you imo.

I am not offended by the word, and use it frequently, however I would not appreciate being aggressively sworn at so you're not unreasonable there and your friend should have been supportive.

I think the word has desensitised over the years, certainly doesn't offend me and I even know it in Spanish

Come to Scotland it's a term of endearment 😂

Such a drip-feed lol

And the 3 women with you were fine about that too, were they?

Where eagles dare...

Yeah but it’s still possible to use it as an insult

It's definitely context specific IMO, Google Derek and Clive sketch of the same word and you'll probably giggle next time you hear it!

Why is cunt offensive but twat, bitch, slut, slapper etc less offensive?

I never understand it.

If you are shouting at me calling me a fucking twat/slut I wouldn’t be less offended than if someone called me a fucking cunt.

Is calling someone a dick as bad as cunt?

Many women (almost exclusively on here) insist that it’s horrifically offensive but seem entirely incapable of explaining why they think it’s any worse than other words.

I think some words sound worse than others because the harsh sounds mean you can say them with real venom.

He obviously meant it to be offensive in this context, but personally I wouldn't take 'cunt' any differently to someone calling me any other offensive word. A huge number of offensive terms are female orientated, I wouldn't get more worked up about 'cunt' than any of the others.

I do think 'cunt' used to be a real taboo word, though, and it's possibly lost some of that in more recent times. My Mum, who is 60, would be much more offended by it than me (30).

Either way, I hope you're OK, OP. Sounds like this guy was being pretty awful to you and I'm sorry you've had that experience.

It’s not a word I’d ever use, and TBH I’m often surprised at MNers, who presumably would call themselves feminists, using a word meaning female genitalia as a term of extreme abuse.

See this is what I don't get, I am a card carrying feminist, but why would I be offended by being called female genitalia? It's so impersonal, just like being called a twat, or a dick, how can you possibly be offended to that extent. Now calling a woman a slut if her behaviour has not been to your liking is offensive and dripping in misogyny. Cunt? Na.

Best not visit Scotland if it offends, it's a term of endearment here 😂

Seriously though, it has the same meaning as twat and fanny, and I don't see that it's any different from the male equivalents of prick, dick, knobend, bellend etc. Tone is the key!

I'm too slow typing 😂🤦‍♀️

I'm with you on this. in fact i don't like people using the f word. I'm an old fart perhaps. I don't care. I think anyone who needs to frequently say f* is deficient.

Up North it's said a lot. I did laugh at the cat comment. So I don't find it offensive. I once watched a film with Danny Dyer in set in Spain and every other word was....

@DuplicateUserName it didn’t seem to change their opinion. They heard it, and the rest of the context ie he was angry and intending to offend, belittle, assert his superiority- they still said c* is not particularly offensive.