Is cunt a sexist term

[SaucyMare]

I have seen a few places where feminists claim calling someone cunt is sexist, as it reduces them to their private parts.

I would see the point if dick wasnt used just as much if not more, or is dick sexist as well?

They are both sexist, IMO, but cunt is often the used as strongest word to describe the most vile and reprehensible of people, as if female genitalia is the worst, most terrible thing to be compared/likened to.

If "dick" or similar were used as strong terms as cunt then I would agree that it was as offensive to men as cunt is to women.

Sorry, my grasp of the lingo went a bit awry there

I quite like the word cunt. I don't find it offensive as a term for genitalia or as a swear word - I am an equal opportunity swearer in that I use cunt, dick etc to insult both men and women (although not to their faces obviously!)

What I do have a massive issue with is cunt as a synonym for "woman".

I really hate it. You cannot escape the connotations...it is slang for female genitalia and Is generally acknowledged to be the worst name you can call someone. Put two and two together and you have nothing but disgusting women hating shite!!!! No amount of women trying to reclaim it will ever work....unlike the black civil rights movement that made the n word off limits to whites, the c word is very much in most men's vocabulary.

I don't think the two words are used in the same way at all, if my dh plays a practical joke, I might call him a dick, I wouldn't mean it offensively, I would never call someone a cunt and would be massively offended if they called me one, I think it's an awful insult, is that a feminist issue in itself?

ahh i use dick as a very big insult, it isn't a jokey name to me at all, used solely for dick motorists.
so to me both are equally as insulting.

Oh right.

FWIW I use dick at work but I wouldn't say cunt.

generally I think if you asked most people they would put "dick" on a par with "pillock", and say "cunt" was the most offensive thing you could call someone. Apart from "fucking cunt" maybe, that would be a bit worse.

are you serious dick same level as pillock, well aren't I just a prude :)

Yes Seven I agree. Also the worst thing you can say to someone just happens to be said more often to women and is a name for women's genitalia.

And men never say it women as a bit of fun or in jokey style.

There's a theme there I think.

I really cringe when women on mumsnet use it, thinking they are being oh so forward thinking and cool and leading mumsnet into a whole new era....when really they are setting us back and being STUPID!!!

Well you're not a "prude" if you are using the word "cunt" where most people would use the word "dick"!

I'm surprised you haven't noticed people looking more shocked TBH.

Why not try it?

At work or at the school gates, point out someone who is a bit of a pillock and say to a mildly sweary person you know "he / she is a bit of a dick". Gauge their response.

Repeat the exercise the following week, only this time express the opinion that "he / she is a bit of a cunt". Gauge response.

I can swear with the best of them but I never ever use "cunt". The fact that it is a woman's genitalia and acknowledged to be the most insulting swear word in the English language simply means that to really insult someone you call them, in effect, a woman. Says it all about the status of women doesn't it?

See, I think that using "cunt" in more or less the same context as one would use "cock" or "arsehole" kind of helps to neutralise the misogyny.

Now "pussy" (apart from when referring to a cat) is a word I hate.

*Well you're not a "prude" if you are using the word "cunt" where most people would use the word "dick"!

I'm surprised you haven't noticed people looking more shocked TBH.*

as (in my head) they are such bad words nobody hears me use them ,unless they are in the car when i have been very very upset.

Actually come to think of it, i never say cunt, it just isn't on my radar of insults to fling (is that because i assume all bad drivers are men or it is so bad it is outside possible words?)

I think it is very sexist, but I am American and in the US, the word is only used to refer to women and is always highly offensive. It's right up there with the N word on the offensiveness scale.

In the UK it is generally considered by everyone I know apart from saucymare to be the "worst" word, but it is applied to both men and women.

The sexism comes from the fact that the "worst" word is a word for female sex organs.

Swearing is interesting. Lots of insults around homosexuality, being female etc. When you want to insult a woman though many words compare her to an animal (bitch, dog, cow) while for men when they are to be insulted it's around insulting their ability to get a female to fuck, insults which are about females related to them, or saying they are like women or gay.

I do like a good swear and in the interests of equality have tried to restrict myself to "gender neutral" swearwords - arsehole, wanker, but it just doesn't give me enough depth of language

Also, why is wanker used as an insult? Now it's used more widely but orginally was it used at men and the insult is they can't get a woman to fuck? Which then makes it not neutral at all.

There are numerous swear words referring to male and female genitalia. Some more offensive than others. I don't know if cunt is regarded as the worst because it refers to female genitals or if it's just coincidence.
Germaine Greer did a TV show a few years ago about the word. I think she was trying to reclaim the word.

FYI. Cunt is not considered very offensive in Scotland I believe.

This is a zombie cunt.