Anyone else bristle at the slur "ho" or "slut"

[Tallison]

or any other pejorative term for a prostitute when used derogatorily against any woman? There's a thread on Ann Coulter in the Lounge right now posting a link to a satirical article about her entitled "H-o-e." Now, the woman's politics appall and offend me, and I can think of many epithets, including "asshole," "jackass," and "blowhard" that would perfectly suit her, but to me, the term "ho" is degrading to prostitutes - yes, prostitutes - most of whom resort to becoming as much out of economic desperation and other circumstances far outside their individual control. Surely we're educated enough to agree that economic and cultural conditions in many countries are such that prostitution becomes some women's only means of survival, for herself and for her children. Furthermore, the slur invariably drags a woman's sexuality and the value thereof into a dialogue when such is typically and wholly irrelevent. Hearing it always makes me want to go AAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH! If that's the best you can do, you've as good as ceded the argument.

Come on, there's far more accurate and articulate words for Ann Coulter, not that she could grasp any of them or indeed my whole point here...

;-)

[Beaverhausen]

1. Threads in the lounge are generally fair game for the misogynists here

It's a free for all in there. It bugs me too and that's why I stay out of it for the most part.

What amazes me is that Coulter is so evil in so many ways that calling her a "slut" as in insult shows the lack of creativity of the posters themselves.

[progmom]

2. constantly

And this sentence of yours explains my feelings too: "Furthermore, the slur invariably drags a woman's sexuality and the value thereof into a dialogue when such is typically and wholly irrelevent."

[Heddi]

3. To me, it demeans a woman's sexuality and sexual expression

A man who is promiscious is a "pimp"---again, a word used in a 'positive' sense but a word that has very negative connotation. A pimp is someone who forces a woman to perform sexual acts for money, then takes her money, leaving her as a 'sexual slave' to his greedy desires. He will beat her if she does not bring in enough money.

However, a PIMP is a good thing! for a guy to be a pimp is just DA BOMB.

Same with being a 'player'. When I was in school (I graduated in 1994), a player was the LAST person you wanted to be with. They'd toy with your emotions and tell you every line in the book just to get you in bed. They'd fill you with empty promises, say they loved you when they didn't. You are nothing more than a notch on the bedpost.

But again, for males, being a Player means that you have sexual conquests unimaginable to the mortal mind. Your penis is so sought after that women flock to you and throw themselves on your feet just so they can get some of that penis.

Let's look at the female versions of these words:

Whore. Someone who is forced to sleep with multiple partners for sex. Any woman who has had sex more than once in her life with more than one person is a whore. Whore can even denote women who don't give sex to the pimps and players that are after them. Whore is the worst. It shows dirty, nasty, lack of any positive qualities.

For females, WHORE is the last thing you want to be.

Slut is the same, but to me, a slut is someone who doesn't fuck for money or ANYTHING. She's just so insatiable that she'll screw anyone or anything. She doesn't even expect you to know her name. She's the drunk girl at a party that gives everyone blow jobs. Slut. Whore.

GoldDigger. A gold digger is a woman who'd toy with your emotions and tell you every line in the book just to get you in bed. They'd fill you with empty promises, say they loved you when they didn't. You are nothing more than a notch on the bedpost for a Gold Digger. Golddiggers are on the same level as Whores, but higher than sluts. Generally, gold diggers are more attractive than whores (who are much more attractive than sluts). Still, no woman wants to be called a gold digger, just as no woman prides herself in being a whore or a slut.

I find it interesting that in the American lexicon, there are several words that praise men who have long lists of sexual conquests, yet there are none for women who have the same.

I find it hard to belive that women would ever embrace the words Slut or Whore and use them in an affirmative way. "I'm a Whore and I'm proud". I don't see that being worn in a positive way on some backpack or t-shirt.

So what is it about sexually active women that is so disgusting to men? Why are they allowed to screw anything with a hole, but we must always remain chaste and virginal?

Aaah...but there is the double-edged sword. If you don't give sex, your'e a wallflower, cold fish, frigid, dry vagina.

Women can't win. If we have sex, we're either whores, sluts, or golddiggers. If we don't have sex, we're frigid, cold fish, or wallflowers.

So, dear men, please enlighten us women and let us know what is an acceptable number of sexual partners and what is an acceptable amount of sexual activity that won't put us on either extreme of the sexual spectrum. There's WHORE on one end, and FRIGID on the other, without a single term in the middle to denote positive aspects of female sexuality.

Oh yeah. I forgot about Lesbian, which isn't just a woman who has attraction and sexual relationshops with other women. Lesbian also applies to any woman who refuses to have sex with any particular man. Because, you know, their penis is just so juicy and any sane woman would give her eye-tooth to have some of that penis. But if she declines the all mighty penis, she is beyond a whore, beyond frigid. She is a LESBIAN, for that is the only reason she would EVER decline to have sex with a balding 50 year old that thinks it's "progressive" to point out how much more sexy and attractive every woman in the bar is. No, it can't be his personality, it MUST be her closeted lesbianism.

[Ripley]

4. And don't forget...

Pimp My Ride (or something like that) is a show on MTV isn't it? So they have changed it's meaning to be fashionable and Positive. No one thinks of a crack-head guy in a purple velvet suit and huge hat with a feather in it standing on the steet when they say "pimp my ride."

Yet, even with the term "media whore" being fashionable, it is not a positive image. Still very negative but used in a way that is not gender-specific.

[ismnotwasm]

5. I was amused the first couple of times

She was referred to as 'mancoulter" After that it stopped being funny.
She is apparently a extremely damaged and damaging human being, like many of the right wing shrills. But as usual, that fact that she's female brings out the 'special' treatment, constant referrals to her sex, her sexuality, her appearance on and on. Why can't people see? I have a sophisticated grasp of slang and cuss words;-) from extensive practice from my youth. I can turn those words (and the rest of them) around on a male so quick it takes them a second or two to actually believe what I just said. But, age brings a little more insight, and I wish folk would just realize how much words DO matter. Just look at the re framing concept. Women reject the word feminist, because of hard work by the right to present feminism as a radical movement. The whole feminazi thing. The famous start of a line... "I'm not a feminist, BUT......Well why not be a feminist? Fear is a part of it. Fear of words, just like.. slut, ho, lesbian, manhater, bitch, and the whole dictionary of words that refer to womens sexual organs. Fear. And it gets perpetrated every day here and everywhere else

[Beaverhausen]

6. ah...the lounge

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=3695521&mesg_id=3715668

[Ripley]

7. Never mind.

Now I remember why I don't go there. I'm clearly not welcome there.

[Eloriel]

8. Yes. I bristle even at seeing it here, in your subject line

PEOPLE: ALERT ON THESE THINGS, are you DOING that?

I see complaints here, and they're not anything more than WHINES, IMO, if you're not also ALERTING on them. Alert first, then come here and complain.

And I don't care if your alert results in a post removal or not or a thread locking or not, IF YOU DON'T ALERT they're DEFINITELY not going to be acted upon.

If you don't alert, likely no moderator will be talking about whether a post or thread needs to be acted upon for its sexism.

If you don't alert, thd Admin won't have a chance to understand that it offends us, and that we CARE.

If you don't alert, with WHY a post is sexist, then you miss a chance to educate the mods and admin (if they need it). You also miss a chance to hone your own arguments for doing battle with the actual sexists later.

If you don't alert, and the posts aren't removed/threads locked, no sexist pigs at DU will get the message that their bigotry is no longer tolerated.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ALERT!!! Every time. Even if it's a long shot. even if you just KNOW it won't "help." Even if you're in a hurry and running late. Even if you really don't even want to. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE ALERT.