is "yawn" a sexist word too?

[private_ryan]

I read it in another thread and I laughed hard, but maybe cause I don't know any better. is it?


From : http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=961707#965291
"And "Yawn" is an especially offensive response, commonly used by the sexist to belittle the feminist airing her grievances."

[Dookus]

1. lol...

seems pretty gender-neutral to me.

[Kamika]

2. heh

*yawn*

[private_ryan]

3. self-hating woman

n/t

[Kamika]

5. lol

sorry I slipped


to semi-quote lisa simpsons teacher

"women like you that keeps the rest of us from getting married"

[VelmaD]

4. Oh good grief

They didn't say it was sexist. Just that it was an offensive and belittling response. Which it is as far as I'm concerned. :eyes:

[private_ryan]

6. well read it again

".....commonly used by the sexist to belittle the feminist airing her grievances"

[VelmaD]

9. You read it again...

I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for ya.

She did not specifically say the word itself was sexist. Only that it was offensive and often used by people who are sexist to belittle women.

I could say the same about racists who use the response "yawn" to belittle those who still insist that racism is a problem in the US. Doesn't make it a racist word either.

What it is is offensive and belittling and proof of the intellectual deficits of the person who could only come up with "yawn" as a response.

[private_ryan]

10. if it's used to belittle anyone

why say it's used to belittle feminsts, then? When I hear "yawn", I assume that I'm boring the person to death.

yawn ( P ) Pronunciation Key (yôn)
v. yawned, yawn·ing, yawns
v. intr.
To open the mouth wide with a deep inhalation, usually involuntarily from drowsiness, fatigue, or boredom.
To open wide; gape: The chasm yawned at our feet.

The act of yawning.
A fatigued or bored response.
Informal. One that provokes yawns; a bore: The movie was nothing more than one big yawn.

[VelmaD]

16. In the thread in question...

it was being used to belittle feminists specifically. The person was essentially saying that women's pleas for equality were boring him. Nice attitude for someone on a progressive site. :eyes:

[private_ryan]

18. let's ASSUME that her argument was boring, irrelavent to the question

or weak, at least according to the person who said "yawn". Pointing it out means that you're anti-women? Are all "pro-women" arguments automatically exciting and valid?

[VelmaD]

21. no, it just means you're condescending

And if you condescend to women in a thread about women's rights then you have to be ready to be called a sexist.

[smirkymonkey]

25. Exactly Private Moron.

A bored response is a position taken by an intellectual lightweight in order to shut down a legitimate issue that one opposes.

It is rude, and it indicates a lack of respect for a very real concern for many women (and certain enlightened men).

You can't come back with a logical, well-thought out response, so you resort to flame baiting and cheap pot shots.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

27. Excellent Point

Insecure people resort to hyperbole when they don't have the intellectual capacity to respond to facts. It's sad, really.

[private_ryan]

34. Like calling people morons or cowards?

that type of thing? Very intellectual.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

41. Well, if the shoe fits....

[Pithlet]

31. I thought you were done with that thread.

It appears not. Anyone who thinks she was saying the term is reserved for sexist people needs to brush up on their reading comprehension.

[Dookus]

7. The exact quote:

And "Yawn" is an especially offensive response, commonly used by the sexist to belittle the feminist airing her grievances.





She's saying it's sexist. She's mistaken.

[Pithlet]

29. No, she's not

She's saying that it is a term that is commonly used by sexist people. She did not say it only a sexist comment.

Either way, it was an extremely rude response.

[smirkymonkey]

30. No, I am saying it is a common response

used by the (sexist, racist, freeper, insert your own word here) in order to shut down an argument.

If Private was not interested in the topic, he was free to move on. Also, I think it is incredibly childish for someone to take a response from one forum and use it to start a thread on another purpose with the sole purpose of getting others to gang up on another member.

I for one, am pretty disappointed that so many women-hating men are able to actually get support for their chauvanistic views on a democratic website.

In the future - READ THE ORIGINAL POST AS IT WAS WRITTEN.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

37. Chauvanistic views usually coincide with racist and homophobic views also

there are usually patterns.

To cut private_moron some slack, I think he is young and doesn't have a lot of worldly experience.

[Andy_Stephenson]

8. Yawn

:loveya:

I am sooooooo tired

[VelmaD]

15. you have been a bad boy

BENT OAFER!

:spank:

;-)

[smirkymonkey]

23. Thank you Velma...

I did not say it was a sexist term - Ryan clearly has a problem with his reading comprehension - I said it was a common response of the Sexist (Person) when trying to dismiss a woman who is airing her grievances about SEXISM.

An instant shut down. For the record, Private Moron, I am not a self-hating woman, that would be Kamika, who needs to bash those of her own gender so that she can win the affections of flame-baiters like you.

[prolesunited]

24. LOL!

:yourock:

[private_ryan]

26. does sarcasm means anything to you? Kamika got it...

Also: Yawn is used to shut down anyone (male or female) who's boring or is an idiot regardless of the issue being discussed. Changing people's name on purpose to make it derogatory is another way of doing it.

Now sorry but my girlfriend is saying that dinner is ready, so talk to you in while.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

28. Surprising

you have a girlfriend? I didn't realize they made inflatable dolls that could cook.

[VelmaD]

32. *snort*

Ok, that was mean-spirited but I have to admit that I was having similar thoughts and forcing myself not to type them.

I think it pretty much says it all that he was sitting on his ass on the computer rather than helping cook dinner.

[prolesunited]

33. LOL!

Bet you get that one pulled, but definitely worth it.

[VelmaD]

38. sadly true

What Rose said is likely to get deleted while the sexist crap spewed on the original thread will not. One of the things about this site that drives me th emost nuts.

[smirkymonkey]

35. Touche Rose!

Good one!

Also, in response to PR, are you saying that women who talk about the very real issue of sexism are either "boring or idiots?". That sounds pretty sexist to me alright.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

39. Real men understand how difficult it is for women

small men (in every sense of the word) have to put the concerns and feelings of women down to feel better about themselves.

[mopinko]

11. context, context

this was a long, long thread in which private ryan threw out every old sexist canard in the book. is 'yawn' an especially offensive response? everything else he said was.

[private_ryan]

13. none of them was worst than "yawn" though

oh, and it happened way after I stopped responding to the thread, and, it was not addressed to me.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

14. Good point, mopinko

spewing sexist canards reveal the depths of someone's ignorance and indoctrination. Or the just how much they are threatened by women.
;-)

[Kathy in Cambridge]

12. The only offensive parts of that thread

were the ignorant comments from some of the folks who clearly have no grasp of reality when it comes to what women face in the workplace. For some it was entirely consistent with their MO on DU.

[populistmom]

17. I, for one, avoided that thread

As someone who choose to be a mom, while if I had it to do over again, I would have been more careful and not have gotten pregnant in the middle of college like I did, but on the other hand, I do not regret not working and working part-time with under school-age children either. If I was to ever re-marry and have more children, even if I was 40 or 45 by then and I'm sure working full-time for years by that point, I would still do my damnedest to be part-time for the first 3 years because it's something that, for me, is very important. That does not make me stupid or mindless or content with being barefoot and pregnant either. That's why those of us women, who are at home, and do have half a brain feel like shit sometimes because we are looked upon as somehow less than.

On the other hand, if working full-time with children, or not having children is your choice, I don't look down upon you. Why is there still this name-calling and disparagement of motherhood? Why is when women who have children want decent maternity leave, flex time, or even "gasp" things like social security benefits to accrue, they are told by other women (who call themselves feminists no less) that they should simply not have children? Why can't women support each other?

One more on edit:
I should add this is a VERY sore subject for me because I left another forum a year and a half ago that I had been involved in for 5 years because I could not stand the SAHM vs. WOHM fights anymore (where me, as a part-time working mom, felt in a weird "can't win" limbo). I see all sides, I see the big picture, and understand it all. I just should keep my mouth shut on these threads.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

19. No one put down motherhood on that thread

except the men who thought it was OK for women to be penalized in the workplace for having children.

Most women I know are fully supportive of motherhood. The rules of the workplace make it very difficult for a woman to have a career and family. With more men sharing the duties these days, the question has to be asked: why do men still make more money than women even though many are now more involved in parenting?

[mopinko]

20. there were comments

about not having children until things changed. sorta sounded like moms were adding to the problem.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

22. I think those women were talking about making a personal choice

it's tough for women in business, but much tougher for women with children.

[Pithlet]

36. I left a parenting forum for that reason, too.

Just like the infighting amongst liberals, the SAHM/WOHM is a pointless debate.

[Moderator]

40. Locking this thread

This is a continuation of an argument on another
thread .