Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Epithets and Gender: a Douche Bag's Musings

After reading the comments from my entry into the TRW's Gold contest, I noticed at least two of the judges picked out "prick" as being an epithet associated with men and thus incorrect when referring to a woman.

I have been pondering the gender assignments of epithets since, and trying to determine if or whether there is a higher number of gender-specific epithets for men because there are simply more words to describe male genitalia, or because the association is based on social interaction, where insults among men are sometimes a part of male bonding.

Or is it because I don't know that many words to negatively describe a woman?

The other question I have is about why certain terms seem to be gender specific. It's rare you hear about women being called dickwads, assholes or pricks, for instance. The go-to seems to be bitch or the C-word, if you're feeling particularly vituperative.

And then there are the head-scratchers. For example, whenever I hear the term "Douche bag" I associate it with the male gender, even though a douche bag is a product used mainly by women. "Motherf*cker" is normally associated with men (with Oedipal complexes, I assume), but you never hear people say "fatherf*cker." I don't know what to make of "twat" either.

Don't get me started on homosexual insults--that's a can of worms I'm not going to open in this post.

Feel free to comment, add to the list, give your two cents.



WARNING: The content below will definitely offend some people.





Words to describe men:
Dick (dickwad, dickhead, etc.), prick, douche bag, asshole, bastard, jerk (jerkface, jerkwad, etc.), motherf*cker, wanker...


Words to describe women:
Bitch, c*nt, whore, slut...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think "c*nt" is the absolute worst thing you can call a woman...I don't know, I just absolutely hate that word.

Also, "p*ssy" is derogatory for a man, and that's probably the same as "twat" because there's nothing worse for a man than to be called a woman.

Six Degrees said...

Cow (heifer, sow), poota, airhead, bimbo, dyke (lesbo, lez), witch (hag), spinster, tart.

Six Degrees said...

Tease, hoochie ma-ma, gold-digger, hooker, Mom-bo. Which doesn't exist but should. A mom who is a bimbo-airhead.

Vicki said...

Notice that the epithets for women are very specific in their definition: each refers to particular traits associated to a woman's behavior (gold-digger, hooker), attitude (airhead, tease, tart), or physical appearance (cow).

Male epithets appear to be more general: I could call a man a dick or an asshole or a douche bag, but it all comes down to the same definition: they're not very nice or they behave abhorrently.