mipeltaja | (no subject)

"I do not feel that "bitches" is sexist. A bitch is a female dog. I'm pretty certain that 90% of women are confident enough in themselves to realize that they are in fact -NOT- a female dog"

I'm sorry, WHAT?

This is such a bizarre defense. The whole point of insults is that they belittle their target in some way. When people liken other people to animals, they do not do it to make the insulted party question their species, they do it to imply that they have the same amount of importance in society as an animal would.

Another claim I heard today is that "bitch" isn't sexist because it's used to insult men, too. Sure it's said to men, too, but think for a second about what the implication is when a man is called that. It implies that he is weak-willed and submissive, in other words, not in possession of traits that are considered manly. "To make someone your bitch" is to make them submit to you. The word is sexist even when used towards men, because it likens them to women (who are simultaneously likened to animals) and in order to be insulting, there needs to be an underlying notion that women are inferior to men, which is what sexism is.

Is "faggot" also not a homophobic insult because it's used towards straight men, too, and most of them are confident enough in their sexuality that they know they are not homosexual?

I just. I can't follow the reasoning of these people.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Who said that? >_o D'oh.
Indeed, the reasoning of some people boggles the mind. ._.

There's a post on

dear_gnome about encountering sexism in a pug (starting with the usage of the word bitches, though directed at mobs, not players), and pretty much all of the early comments are some form of "lol it's not sexist" or "lol y so sensitive?".

Urgh, that one... I noticed the post in the morning, but there weren't so many trolly replies then. v_v

/sigh

While it's true that words in themselves are not sexist or even racist...
...it's the context and manner they are used that matters!

Bitch, as an crude example, isn't sexist ... when talking about bitches; Female dogs.

In a PuG like that... bah. :P

You have a point there. It's perfectly acceptable when one is talking about female dogs. Similar to how faggot and fag are not homophobic when talking about bundles of wood and cigarettes, respectively.