The use of the terms slut and whore as insults

lazygal

Wendy Davis is known for her filibustering on abortion law in Texas. She stood for hours on end to try to stop a bill being passed to further limit abortion access. Some people, such as Tea Party member Todd Kincannon, weren't too happy about this. He's taken to posting things like this: I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who was as much of a whore as Wendy Davis. And I’ve met some epic whores in my travels about her. More here: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/25/tea-party-republican-spews-vile-sexist-twitter-attacks-at-wendy-davis/


I don't think there's an equivalent term for men in terms of insults. Maybe there is and I just don't know of it. But the use of terms like slut and whore, which are linked to sexual behaviour of women, to insult and denigrate women, make me extremely uncomfortable. And so what if she is a slut or a whore, in the sense that she may have had a lot of sex. How does that impact on her abilities as a legislator? Why throw around words implying a woman has had a lot of sex as an insult at all?

Jerrica

Ugh, although it's important for the world to know how utterly wrong and vile the Tea Party is I hate giving anything they say or do oxygen.

No, I don't think there is a male equivalent. I know I haven't used the term "you're such a gigolo" as a slur against a guy's character anytime recently. But doesn't this go back to the age old paradox of women who sleep with many being sluts and men who sleep with many having prowess? To me the terms "slut" and "whore" are used to cast aspersions of loose or lack of morals on a woman. Obviously in this case it has big fat zilch to do with Wendy Davis as a legislator, but when one of limited brain power tries to take down their opponent, they can only be expected to argue like an idiot in the absence of intelligence.

In slightly less verbose terms. Todd Kincannon is a tool. He hasn't got the cognitive awareness to write a coherent and persuasive argument so instead he throws mud and hopes some of it sticks. It's like the class bully going around calling the nerdy kids names because s/he (a) can't understand them and (b) is a little afraid of them.

The GOP and its War on Women has become so utterly farcical that you can easily conclude that its members - both male and female - are so afraid of women that they feel the need to dis-empower them on a basal level at every opportunity. If it wasn't so scary it would be funny.













Damn. I needed that rant :pac:

strobe

Suppose 'player' or 'dog' or 'sleezebag' or 'creep' etc would be broad equivalents in terms of insults for men based on their sexual tooings and froings.

fits

Anyone who uses insults like that can be immediately dismissed as a fool. Imo Its the subtle misogyny and discrimination that is so much more difficult to tackle.

GalwayGuy2

I don't think there's an equivalent term for men in terms of insults.

Can I comment on that?

Tbh, anybody who uses such a silly insult to win an argument doesn't have much of a n argument to begin with.

I'm surprised anybody would be stupid enough to say that. It's just not a very intelligent thing to do.

Amirani

I really don't see the point in people using those words as insults. If you're going to insult someone, you might as well do it properly.

I'd hope that in this day and age, most people would consider someone using sexual slurs to attack someone's character as an outdated and misogynistic idiot.

newport2

lazygal wrote: »

I don't think there's an equivalent term for men in terms of insults. Maybe there is and I just don't know of it. But the use of terms like slut and whore, which are linked to sexual behaviour of women, to insult and denigrate women, make me extremely uncomfortable. And so what if she is a slut or a whore, in the sense that she may have had a lot of sex. How does that impact on her abilities as a legislator? Why throw around words implying a woman has had a lot of sex as an insult at all?

I think the reason for this is that men simply would not take this as an insult, hence it doesn't exist. There is no point in having an insulting term if it doesn't insult the person it's directed at. Like "small man syndrome" is directed at men because it regards something men are conscious about, never heard an equivalent for women because it isn't something they are conscious about (generally).

I fully agree with you regarding the two words above, they sound and are horrible things to say. Only certain types of men use them. Any that do use them should be pulled up on it.

username123

Is the term "manwhore" not an equivalent?

eviltwin

I've heard men described as sluts and whores before, didn't think it was an exclusively female term anymore. Funnilly enough as an insult it doesn't really bother me, if someone wants you to feel bad they will call you pretty much anything. It bothers me more when its used as an everyday way to talk about a woman who has a sex life. I saw this a lot when Slanegirl was being discussed. I don't think many of the people talking that way were going out of their way to be hurtful but that it was their judgement of women who enjoy sex coming to the fore.

jackofalltrades

lazygal wrote: »

I don't think there's an equivalent term for men in terms of insults.

Men being sexual promiscuous is not seen in a negative light, where as women being sexual promiscuous is.
There might be words for men sleeping around a lot, but they don't seem to have much of a negative connotation or be used widely.

Why throw around words implying a woman has had a lot of sex as an insult at all?

In this context it seems to be because of her pro-choice views. Fitting in with the narrative of "if a woman gets an abortion it's because she's sleeping with everyone".
In a general context it seems to be the lowest common denominator of insults towards women.

GalwayGuy2

Hmmm, I was afraid I'd get kicked off for wataboutery if I commented on this.

But I just thought I'd raise a comment for discussion.

Lets come from a certain standpoint of why people use the term 'slut' and 'whore' as insults. In my opinion, it has its roots in 'Female sexuality is gone wild and if I don't stop it it will lead to social erosion'. I need to stop it before children are motherless, the workplace is flooded with women-folk, and the world collapses into fiery damnation!'

It's a little tongue in cheek, but does anybody else think it has its roots in that mentality? Of course, in today's age, it could just be an easy insult against a woman.

Now, if it is fear of female sexuality gone wild, would fear of male sexuality gone wild be the equivalent?

eviltwin

GalwayGuy2 wrote: »

Hmmm, I was afraid I'd get kicked off for wataboutery if I commented on this.

But I just thought I'd raise a comment for discussion.

Lets come from a certain standpoint of why people use the term 'slut' and 'whore' as insults. In my opinion, it has its roots in 'Female sexuality is gone wild and if I don't stop it it will lead to social erosion'. I need to stop it before children are motherless, the workplace is flooded with women-folk, and the world collapses into fiery damnation!'

It's a little tongue in cheek, but does anybody else think it has its roots in that mentality? Of course, in today's age, it could just be an easy insult against a woman.

Now, if it is fear of female sexuality gone wild, would fear of male sexuality gone wild be the equivalent?

It's male fear and insecurity, if she has sex with more than one person ie me, she might discover I'm not the amazing lover I think I am. Of course men are encouraged to have multiple partners which just divides women into two camps, the good girls and the bold girls. It is so outdated its hard to believe anyone still uses words like that.

newport2

eviltwin wrote: »

It's male fear and insecurity, if she has sex with more than one person ie me, she might discover I'm not the amazing lover I think I am. Of course men are encouraged to have multiple partners which just divides women into two camps, the good girls and the bold girls. It is so outdated its hard to believe anyone still uses words like that.

While it certainly may be connected with male fear and insecurity, I don't think it's for the reason you state. I mean, realistically, every woman I have dated has been with multiple men in the past, including my wife. This is the same for all men of our generation, so very few if any men are caught up in the notion that they are the only one, or amazingly better than others for that matter.

newport2

lazygal wrote: »

But the use of terms like slut and whore, which are linked to sexual behaviour of women, to insult and denigrate women, make me extremely uncomfortable. And so what if she is a slut or a whore, in the sense that she may have had a lot of sex. How does that impact on her abilities as a legislator? Why throw around words implying a woman has had a lot of sex as an insult at all?

Are the two words ever used in this context though? ie I've never heard them used to refer to a woman just because she had a lot of sex. Whenever I hear them used, it's in the context of "I don't like her for reason x (which has nothing to do with sex), so I'll use these two words to put her down as I know they will be taken as very derogatory".

Like in your original example, Todd Kincannon used the word "whore" about Wendy Davis because he didn't like what she said about a different topic. So he lashed out with a derogatory term, unrelated to anything. And in the same sense, she might have called him a cocksucker in response, while never meaning it for a second in a literal sense, just that he was an ahole. Just terms applied to one another that neither would like being called, but probably untrue in both cases.

Like I said before, I hate the two words, so I'm not justifying their use. You just made me think about the context in which I've heard them used.

RDM_83 again

eviltwin wrote: »

It bothers me more when its used as an everyday way to talk about a woman who has a sex life. I saw this a lot when Slanegirl was being discussed. I don't think many of the people talking that way were going out of their way to be hurtful but that it was their judgement of women who enjoy sex coming to the fore.

I'l probably get heat for this, but I think the slut thing is a bit more nuanced than your making out especially in the present day, if a woman is having a lot of partners but they are all good looking/prestigious and she is doing it on what appears to be on her own terms I am not sure if the slut label will be thrown around or it will at least have less impact.

The slanegirl thing is a good example of the opposite to this from what I remember of it, it wasn't exactly "classy" and was exceptionally open -oral sex with some rather rough looking dude hi-5ing while a load of lads watch in what I can only presume was probably a stinking urinal area (anybody who's been to a festival knows how bad those places get), I am not condoning the abuse and notoriety she achieved but stepping a few feet away and into a porta-loo and it all would have been avoided.
My point being its not necessarily about sex but rather impulse control and the ability to dictate terms