No pejorative terms for males: reality check
Am I the only one who remembers someone on this list being called a
"Misogynistic old fart" ?
kt
On Jun 3, 2008, at 6:23 AM, Robert Newcomb wrote:
For clarity sake, just as I would like "the world" to know that not
all americans are pompous ass war mongers, I would like to say that
all males are not the same or think similarly.
Robert Newcomb
A middle aged white male living in the southern US.
On Jun 2, 2008, at 11:18 PM, Judy Seigel wrote:
I seem to have missed the evil comments described (my ISP may be
an MCP) but here's a simple test: Try, just try to imagine those
putdowns to someone who signed themselves "Charles Rogers."
It doesn't happen.
Nor can we say that if Catherine were famous (or more famous)
she'd get more respect. I recall, some 10 years (or more) ago, a
couple of boy-os on the History of Photography list snickering
about "Susan Sontag, the bitch." No, I'm not making that up.
In fact the language (English anyway) just about insures it. I
did an analysis of gender terms in Roget's Thesaurus (see my T-
shirt book, pages 134-143): Probably the most striking example is
the fact that slang for "femininity" devolves to "bitch."
The closest equivalent terms for men (other than feminized men)
are "bad person," or blame for financial ("Bowery bum") or
outright criminal status. Under "unchastity," men are libertine,
swinger, profligate, rake, roue, womanizer, woman chaser, gay dog,
etc., which is to say, terms that are almost admiring; women are
"whore" or "nympho."
The unequal status for men and women is even clearer under the
entry for "old." "Adult Or Old Person" para 2, has 38 terms for
old man and elder, of which only one, "dotard" is unredeemably
bad. The others are either respectful, like "golden-ager,"
"patriarch, or "Father Time," or only mildly disparaging, like
"geezer" or "old codger." However, the category for old woman has
21 terms, of which only 2 or 3 are respectful ("grandam,"
"beldam"). Most, like "old battle ax," "hen," bag, "witch,"
and "crone." are, to put not too fine a point on it, insults.
I wouldn't say the language causes the sexism, rather that it
reflects the sexism... and not so coincidentally I noticed that
Webster's Unabridged (I have 2 editions circa 10 years apart)
shows that the word "racism" entered the language approximately 10
years before the word "sexism." Which may explain why the US
press has freely commented on Hillary Clinton's ankles, et al, but
not a word about -- oh I dunno, do Obama's ears stick out, or
something ?
I'm not a shrinking violet, and I do get to experience this first
hand, which I admit, accustomed as I am, still can come as a shock...
But it occurs to me to ask, Catherine, did any of that
disparagement come from women? From the comments cited just now,
it would seem not.
Judy
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