What is the Worst Thing You Can Call a Woman?

[EatsBrainsAndLeaves]

Love this quote.

?What?s the worst possible thing you can call a woman? Don?t hold back, now. You?re probably thinking of words like slut, whore, bitch, cunt (I told you not to hold back!), skank. Now, what are the worst things you can call a guy? Fag, bitch, pussy. I?ve even heard the term ?mangina.? Notice anything? The worst thing you can call a girl is a girl. The worst thing you can call a guy is a girl. Being a woman is the ultimate insult, now tell me that?s not royally fucked up.? ― Jessica Valenti

I think there's a bit of confusion going on here. Its not necessarily the insults you throw, but the ones you think in your mind or express to a third party.

Although I openly express a number of swearwords, if someone had really wronged me, or showed callousness to a sociopathic degree to anyone I know the only word to fit such hatred, for me, would be 'c*nt'. And that shows the level of misogyny I've internalised.

But of course to frighten or shame someone using insults the 'mud sticks' aspect of pedo or very personalised ones are the most hurtful.

Ginger stepchild is pretty hurtful. But I fear we are undermining Ms Valenti's point with all this japery.

Anyone mentioned 'cunt-rash' yet?

Yes personal insults are always worse. But many insults for boys and men are based on comparing them to girls and women. Tell a boy he is behaving like a girl, and he will be mortified or angry.

Interested that being called butch is seen as a wounding insult. Is that because you thought the person was saying you were a lesbian or like a lesbian? Because that is also used as an insult, especially to feminists. The implication being that being a lesbian is an awful thing.

Calling a bloke a puff/queg/sausage-jockey/gayer can also be insulting, but as with so many things it depends on context. And not a female in sight!

Those are anti gay insults. And gay men are seen as less "real" men because they are seen as behaving more like women than men i.e. because some men anally penetrate other men, just as men penetrate women. This is reinforced with stereotypes of gay men being interested in traditionally female interests such as shopping and fashion. So these are insults based on misogyny

Good point, Eats. Proves OP's point.

That was kind of the point, in parallel with someone's 'butch/lesbian' gibe in an earlier post. Being seen as something other than straight can be pretty damning for either sex. Paedo and/or ginger still seem to be winning though.

Being seen as a lesbian is an insult because any woman that is not under the control of a man is viewed as threatening under patriarchy, which it is. Gay men are insulted because they are seen as behaving like women, as I explained above. Both insults are based on misogyny.

"Being seen as a lesbian is an insult because any woman that is not under the control of a man is viewed as threatening under patriarchy, which it is. "

Yes and I think it is most used against women who reject male advances or refuse to flirt. It like 'You don't placate men! LESBIAN!', but also against women who are fiercely economically independent and career focused: 'You don't depend on men! LESBIAN!'

I think the idea that gay men act like women is an outdated stereotype. They are not all John Inman flouncers and 'fairies'. I think many men's gut reaction to gay men is based on the same prejudices as racism -lack of understanding, ignorance and lack of interaction with that group. It is deeper than misogyny.

Misogyny runs pretty deep through most men. And Het men seem to pretty fixated on the issue of gay men having anal sex - which is based on misogyny

Christ omfg.

I hate to say it, but it is likely that sooner or later she will run into some bad luck (hopefully not too serious of course) and that will change her mind. As she learns more about business she will probably learn how precarious it can be and that it's perfectly possible to go from millions to nothing in a day.

Are you telling me how het men feel, Eats? I have been bollocked for 'mansplaining' how women feel on issues .

In my experience, it isn't the anal sex hang-up you describe. Indeed, most het men these days seem to experiment with it with their partners.

Het men are happy to anally penetrate their female partners. What we are talking about is men being anally penetrated.

Eats, I fail to follow your last point to any sort of conclusion. Het men cannot denigrate gay men for carrying out an act that they indulge in themselves. It would be like accusing them of masturbating - the response would be 'so what?!?'

My point was that Het men are happy to anally pentrate their female partners. Het men denegrate gay men for being anally pentrated. Most Het men are not anally pentrated by their female partners.

This is seen starkly within male prisons where the man anally penetrating e.g. in rape, is still seen as "a real man". Whereas the man being anally penetrated - whether raped or not - is seen as a lesser being and may be referred to as the other man's "bitch" or "lady" i.e. the man being anally penetrated is viewed as behaving like a woman.

I think we will not agree on this one, Eats, so I will drop this now. We are getting away from the OP, which didn't seem to hold much water with most respondents.

Spsfango

Hilarious.......

I hate pejorative terms for female genitalia personally- minge, flange, beef curtains, axe wound, ad nauseum. Sadly I quite like 'puss' or 'pussy' .

But a man? Paedo, Impotent, the good old fashioned 'Cuckold' - Chaucer got so much right.....'Husband of the woman I'm fucking' is one I sadly heard once- that's gotta smart, needle dick, walnut whip (think penile shape for those mystified)

Insult his potency...publicly.

'Misogyny runs pretty deep through most men. And Het men seem to pretty fixated on the issue of gay men having anal sex - which is based on misogyny'

Really most men hate women?

MY DH is not a misogynist. He absolutely is not.

I think the worst thing you can call a woman is 'mannish' or 'butch'. I was called a 'tranny' by a bloke once and a crowd of blokes called me 'chief'. That was harsh. I'm only 5'8" and a size 16

The insult I hear most commonly for both sexes is wanker.

You're over thinking this.

OMG can I just confirm the man who called me tranny had not seen in my pants - I have a fanny. Jeez.

Did the man who called you a tranny really think you were a transsexual, or was he saying that you did not behave or look like a woman should

So all these insults play on the idea that the insultee 'fails' to conform to gender stereotypes. That's all, really.
But then, the value of any insult can be influenced by the response of the recipient. So if an insult simply fails to work - i.e. fails to insult/hurt/shock/offend, then it's no longer valuable to the insultor/abuser.