Reply #50: Bitch-slap was the term I objected to

[Woodstock]

It crosses the line from a word which I personally don't like (bitch), but can live with, to a term that trivializes or normalizes violence towards women (bitch-slap.) That takes it beyond my personal preferences to something we as a group definitely shouldn't tolerate. The general meaning of this term is a guy slapping "his bitch" because she got out of line. I know some people enamoured of using the term give it other meanings, but this is the widely accepted meaning.

So, if we allow bitch-slap, we should also allow black-slap, cripple-slap, gay-slap, and {all the lovely little cute words that denote these groups}-slap.

If someone asks me do I like them calling women bitches, I'll say no, and if they generally act like boorish jerks in addition to that, I'll eventually put them on ignore. If they call women the C word, they go on ignore immediately. It was only when the -slap got added, that I said we gotta do something about this as a group.

A LOT of women on DU have told me offline, and also remarked online, that DU is a sexist place. To me, allowing the term bitch-slap invites bad vibes. MOST women object to this term. There have been many threads where people have objected, and I bet given 1/2 hour I could come up with 100 names of people who have objected. Give me more time, I'll come up with lots more. To me, that's significant.

Yes, bitch-slap should be banned. That's my vote. Especially from thread titles. But I don't know why it came to a vote. I appreciate that you are addressing the issue, and I thank you for that. But I'd have preferred you made the executive decision to ban it, the way I presume you banned gratuitous use of the N word. For example, would you let someone start a thread "Colin Powell is a n*gger" ? I suspect not. But starting a thread "John Dean is bitch-slapping George Bush" is OK? Both are offensive and create a hostile environment on DU for blacks and women respectively.