Is the language in this article unacceptably sexist, or acceptable in context?

[OmahaBlueDog]

From Wonkette:

http://wonkette.com/527193/liz-cheney-is-not-pro-gay-marriage-is-however-worlds-worst-sister

Liz Cheney Is ‘Not Pro-Gay Marriage’; Is, However, World’s Worst Sister

I direct your attention to this passage from the article:

Liz’s insistence that nuh uh, she so does NOT heart gay marriage wouldn’t be necessary if voters were not receiving mysterious polling questions about how she “aggressively promotes gay marriage,” but since Enzi’s team — sorry, we mean some mysterious “dirty tricks … push poll” outfit (but wait, we thought Republicans love dirty tricks push polls!) that probably has nothing whatsoever to do with Enzi’s campaign AT ALL — went there, well, Liz has no choice but to assure voters that she does TOO hate gay marriage. Which makes her a terrible person, of course, which we already knew because she is a Cheney, after all, but it also makes her a real cunt of a sister, considering her own sister is gay married — to a gay lady! Because seriously, what kind of horrible, evil, do-not-pass-GO-do-not-collect-$200-just-burn-directly-in-HELL person are you if you are running for office on a platform of being NOT pro your own sister’s marriage?

Question: is referring to Liz Cheney as a "real cunt of a sister" unacceptably sexist, or acceptable in context?

5 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Unacceptable
	3 (60%)
	Acceptable
	0 (0%)
	Normally, I'd find it unaceeptable, but in this context, it's OK
	2 (40%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[KittyWampus]

1. comes across to me as a woman using a term to appear more relevant & tough. In Cultural Linguistics

we learned that slang almost always comprised of terms used by men and it carries more cache.

IIRC, this applies to all cultures.

Now this was from a class I took 25+ years ago. So please don't yell at me if I got it wrong.

[OmahaBlueDog]

3. No - really - I'm asking for opinions

I saw this on Wonkette and the sentence stuck out and I started wondering what DUers would think?

So no yelling from me

[dipsydoodle]

2. I find the word wonkette offensive

Aside from that what sort of english is "she so does NOT heart gay ".

Also I don't find the use of that word acceptable in the context provided - only as most commonly used in the UK to mean stupid as in "don't be a ****"

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. Pop culture English???

..since "heart" has become a verb as a result of the plethora of "I (image of a heart) (name of person, cause, dog breed, bar, super model, car company, beach, entertainer, or whatever else you are attempting to promote)" images.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Fuck pop culture

Keep that up and we'll be talking as though we were texting.

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. LMBO!

I <3 DU!

[dipsydoodle]

8. You made me wonder

how the fuck the NSA copes with texts.

[whathehell]

11. Fuck using "cunt" as an equivalent of "stupid".

Casual, routine degradation of women through language is at least as offensive.

as "talking as though we were texting".

[dipsydoodle]

12. Oh

Is it. Only if you don't account for context.

[whathehell]

20. Fuck context

One's priorities tend to change when it is YOU who is the target of abuse.

As a male, you can afford to focus on issues of grammar in this situation,

rather than the more immediate one of being demeaned.

[dipsydoodle]

21. And you're using the word fuck in a different context from original use.

'nuff said.

btw - I didn't say it used toward women here. Its a bloke to bloke thing.

[whathehell]

24. True, but it's not offensive as is "cunt", because "fuck" applies to both genders

The word "cunt" belongs to females only.

As for it being a "bloke to bloke" thing, yes, but it still insults females, even if not to their faces.

Why don't you blokes degrade yourselves instead?

[whathehell]

9. That's unfortunate

I find the word "cunt" used as an equivalent of "stupid" offensive and quite obviously sexist.

[dipsydoodle]

10. Its just reuse of a word and has been so here at least back to the '50s.

I can think of an analogy but I won't bother. The issue is with words being reused with totally different meanings.

[whathehell]

17. When you are speaking of "here", I believe you're speaking

of the UK, not the US.

That word is not acceptable here in anything approaching what might be called "polite company".

Sorry, but I don't buy that the issue is with a word being "reused" with a "totally different meaning".

How anyone could be convinced that a gender slur, (but not a racial one, for instance) suddenly, and

oh so innocently, became a synonym for "stupid", is beyond me, but I guess every culture lives with their own

delusions and rationalizations.

[dipsydoodle]

18. Yes - the UK.

Sorry if that wasn't clear. There are other contexts here too - nuisance for example.

These conversations occured from time to time in the meta forum.

[bunnies]

7. The word doesnt bother me personally...

but its probably not acceptable to use in a publication.

[Nye Bevan]

13. Seriously? You have to ask whether calling a woman a "cunt" is acceptable? (nt)

[OmahaBlueDog]

28. What I'm really asking whether DUers would say it is OK to call Liz Cheney that?

While I don't have to ask, I am the person who is last to get the memo on what is and is not acceptable.

[treestar]

14. I don't like it

It's assigning negativity to female body parts. Well maybe it's like using "dick" to describe a man, but then I don't use that either.

[Demo_Chris]

15. I predict 200 responses...

[OmahaBlueDog]

27. If DU had a betting parlor, I'd have taken the "under"

However, the night is still young.

[Warpy]

16. If you don't like the language, avoid that site.

Wonkette pulls no punches because some ladies get the vapors.

[whathehell]

22. Oh, right..That's like telling

Black people if they object to being called "nigger", they should avoid rednecks,

lest they get "the vapors". .

[Warpy]

23. They laugh when Chris Rock says it

BIG difference.

Learn it.

[whathehell]

25. Who is "They"?

It's not me, honey, and I know a LOT of women who don't like Chris Rock

and other comedians like him for exactly that reason...You learn that.

[OmahaBlueDog]

29. They laughed when Richard Pryor said it too, but they applauded loudly when he stopped.

If you've never seen it, check out "Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip."

[Shrike47]

19. The word should be reserved for people who annoy ME. Don't wear it out, please!

[Gormy Cuss]

26. From *Expletive Deleted* by the late Ruth Wajnryb, Australian linguist.

Excerpted from the chapter titled "A Cunt of a Word."

The really interesting question is why a word for female genitalia should have such power. One traditional argument is that female genitalia, being hidden, have connotations of cunning (linked to 'cunt?') and deviousness. From there, so the argument goes, it's a slippery slope to 'bad" and then to 'evil.'

The suggestion, while logical, seems to put the cart before the horse, to seek a literal explanation for something that is actually far more symbolic. After all, if it were all about not being seen, the middle ear is also hidden, but few would cast aspersions in its direction, even under heavy provocation. (snip)

A simpler, perhaps more plausible explanation is to be found in the locus of power in patriarchal societies. Given that it is held by males, and given that it falls within their capacity to adopt as their most abusive term the word that denotatively refers to the most intimate private place, this is what they have done. "

eta: in terms of the Wonkette contributor, it was a stupid use of the word for shock value.

[whathehell]

31. Thank you for posting this. I agree with you and with the linguist. n/t

[KinMd]

30. The author of that piece, Kaili Joy Gray, is female btw