We need to start reframing this word. Cunt as positive and powerful.

Reading assignment - everyone go get "Cunt" by Inga Muscio and Betty Dodson.

I use the word - cunt - constantly, I love the reactions of surprise and even shock...it gives me an opportunity to redefine the word.

This is the part that stuck out for me: "Her lack of common sense, cruel treatment to animals, and just plain ignorance to what we (Americans, and even women)really care about is absolutely frustrating."

It sounds either like "Oh, women can be American too?" or "Oh, women can care about stuff?!"

On one hand, I think that profanity is a myth. We are disgusted by a word merely by its sound. By example, we like the sound of duck, truck, and luck, but the word "fuck" is unpleasant. Therefore we give it a stigma and call it profane. On the other hand, the context of the word makes it profane as well. In this case, the context is greatly profane. Making Sarah Palin a body part doesn't really change her policies. The whole notion is childish...and misogynistic. I'm glad you're calling it out.

I have a bit of confusion over the whole Sarah Palin thing... I mean, we're jealous of her and hate her cause she's a smokin' hot chick right? So, why are we defending her against people who call her the C-word? I mean... if we hate her, why would we defend her... unless we don't hate her and just really dislike her policies and positions... but... aren't women completely ruled by emotions?

Or am I confusing us with Republicans?

Disgusting.

I hate Sarah Palin. I hope the Alaskans recall or impeach her ass when this election is over and she goes crawling back home. But calling her a "cunt" is disgusting. If the word is being used to mean "vagina", it is insulting to vaginas to compare them to Sarah Palin, and if the word is used to mean "nasty, awful, horrible woman", then it falls into the tradition of sexist hate speech against women, and that's not okay, ever.

BTW, LoveFromAlaska, I don't think you will have any luck reframing that word. "Pussy" is a good candidate for reclamation because it is cute and soft and playful-sounding -- the word itself has positive qualities that are similar to the positive qualities of vaginas. But "cunt" is sharp, which vaginas are not; it is abrupt, which vaginas are not; it sounds harsh, which *healthy* vaginas are not; and it is similar to "cut", so it ties back to the whole horrific notion of the vagina as a wound on women and "what bleeds for seven days and doesn't die" and all that bullshit that redefines the entrance point from which almost all humans come into the world as some sort of horrible defect.

I'd be willing to call my C-section scar a cunt. That *is* a cut, and it was harsh and abrupt and caused by a sharp object, and it was unpleasant and I'd rather not have it. But my vagina is not a cunt. I'm willing to own pussy, but not cunt.

Why can't people like this call women they don't like assholes? Come on, assholes spew shit. Vaginas cause pleasure and push out people. Even the concept of "prick" or "dick" as an insult makes more sense than using a vagina as an insult -- penises can be used to rape, and men are culturally encouraged to "think" with them and make stupid decisions based on the fact that they want sex, and "dick" really just means "I have an overweening sense of entitlement and I don't think very well." But vaginas, when healthy, are soft but incredibly strong, warm, moist and really can't directly be used to hurt anyone. Yet they are used as an insult against men to mean "weak" and against women to mean "awful person who is female". Why?

It's stupid, completely unnecessary and makes it easy for me to dismiss anyone who wears one of those shirts, no matter what side of the political party fence they fall on.

And why give the McCain camp something to gripe about? Let them continue to be the divisive, hate-inciting fools. We're better than that.

Obama is ahead in most polls and should win this thing decisively, if current numbers hold up. Positivity should trump negativity!

what's really freaking me out is that brilliant, blinding neon green color they put the words in. It's terrifying.

I was disgusted when HR Clinton got this treatment and I am disgusted with this.

This is not word reclamation. Word reclamation would have been if the T-shirt said something like, "This cunt (meaning the wearer of the shirt) is voting for so-n-so". Hell, even better with the men wearing that slogan too as a show of support.

Nope, this is meant to be mean and nasty.

That word is filthy. Shall we cast the first stone? Shame on those people for wearing those shirts. They are not any better than the right wing misogynistic pundits. This crap is going too far. Doing stuff like this is perpetuating sexism. What is more appalling is seeing a woman wearing that shirt. Do I like Sarah Palin? Absolutely not! Pornification of politics and stupidity.

The t shirts are in bad taste if accurate. I agree its a stunt and it assaults the eyes of others do do not want to see that mess.

Although this form of protest seems rather childish, I don't fully understand why the word 'cunt' is considered the most offensive of all words. Why is calling a person a cunt any worse than calling them a 'dick', a 'prick' or an 'asshole'?

I think I would have to agree with LovefromAlaska on this point. Language is what you make of it. Instead of fighting a war against words, reclaim it and make the most of it.

Clearly everyone here should all show up at a McCain/Palin rally wearing T-shirts that say "John McCain is a Cock"/"John McCain is a Dick" as a sign of protest to balance things out.

Seriously, while seeing Palin referred to as a cunt rubs me the wrong way, it seems like a double-standard to be offended by a person being called a "cunt" (person, not woman; I've seen that word in reference to plenty of men as well), and not when someone is called a dick, cock, prick, etc. Speaking of which Alara, your comment comes a little to close to the whole "putting femininity on a pedestal" issue I've seen people complain about here.

Though it also is a double standard that men can be called pussies and cunts, but women are never referred to as dicks/pricks/cocks. I guess that's a part of the whole "female is an insult" bit of sexism that irks me a lot.

I have to believe that a lot of the sexist incidents regarding both Hillary Clinton and Palin were, at their core, publicity stunts.

Sure -- but none of the people behind them were emailing me themselves trying to get me to blog about it. ;-)

My feeling was that my Palin Sexism Watch has lost all meaning if I allow people who are aware of it to use it as free advertising.

So, on this one, I felt it made more sense for me to take a pass (sort of). I certainly don't mean for my decision to read as an oblique swipe at anyone who decided to blog it.

This post made me think of something...In the thread on Samhita's post about meeting Margaret Cho, she said something similar to the effect that people of color saying something racist is different than white people saying something racist. I don't like the word cunt when it's used as an insult, as in this context, but is it different for a woman to call another woman that? See what I mean about POC and racism, compared to women and sexism? Because, I must admit, in my black heart when I hear Sarah Palin speak I sometimes think "What a cunt..."

"BTW, LoveFromAlaska, I don't think you will have any luck reframing that word. "Pussy" is a good candidate for reclamation because it is cute and soft and playful-sounding -- the word itself has positive qualities that are similar to the positive qualities of vaginas. But "cunt" is sharp, which vaginas are not; it is abrupt, which vaginas are not; it sounds harsh, which *healthy* vaginas are not; and it is similar to "cut", so it ties back to the whole horrific notion of the vagina as a wound on women and "what bleeds for seven days and doesn't die" and all that bullshit that redefines the entrance point from which almost all humans come into the world as some sort of horrible defect."

Alara, thank you for so eloquently summarizing something I've been feeling uncomfortable about for some time! I've read Cunt, and I understand the author's intention, but I've just never been able to use that word without cringing. I thought that maybe I'm just not a tough enough feminist, or that I am bad at reclaiming things, but I have such reservations about using "cunt." I don't think I *want* that word! Your comment made me realize why. Thank you for explaining what I didn't have the words to explain to myself!

Whenever Sarah Palin speaks, my brain screams "stupid cunt!" I know that is a terrible reaction, but I can' help myself. I have never had this problem before.

The again, others have pointed out that the word cunt is no different from dick, prick, etc. I think most of us can agree that Sarah Palin is a dick for making rape victims pay for their own rape kits.

I hate the look on the womans face. Its like she actually thinks by calling women (negative, not the positive form) cunt is somehow avant garde and edgy. Its just stupid.Duhhhh.....!Why is it you dont see this in other activist groups (race, sexual orientation, disability), but you do with women?

Pulltaffy,
I'm the same way, (referring to word reclamation), except with the word 'bitch.' Whenever I hear that word I get pissed. It always sounds like an insult.

Gopher, she says she's a registered libertarian. All the libertarians I've ever encountered remind me of the guys from my AP english class after they read The Fountainhead. It's like a light goes off in their heads that says, "Hey, it's ok to not care about others as long as you're the best, it can't be wrong, Ayn Rand says it's so!" Some people just never grow out of that phase.

Either something is wrong or it's not. Either it's wrong to reduce women to parts, to 'take them down a peg' by referencing their body/sexuality or it's not. Shit like this is exactly the sort of thing that undermines our position. There are PLENTY of ways to criticize Sarah Palin that don't use gendered insults.

It's like everyone wants an excuse to do the same things that they rail against the rest of the time. But... but... but... but she made them pay for rape kits... she's anti-choice... she does not represent women. SO SAY THAT, don't call her a bitch/cunt/dry vagina or whatever you're inclined to pat yourself on the back for. Don't use her bad stances as an excuse to fall back on misogynist bullshit. Part of feminism to me is scrutinizing women in the same way men are scrutinized, so base your insults in the issues.

Hideous and *extremely* counter-productive.

Well, I've been calling John McCain a "dick" and a "dickhead" for sometime now, so for me, I am trying to figure out how calling her a "cunt" is so very different than that. If these are the same things, I will have to quit referring to male jerks as "dicks," which I really don't want to quit doing.

I have no problem calling McCain and Palin both assholes - but sometimes, these words are more powerful for me.

As of now, I don't see the problem with these shirts. Maybe I will become enlightened here shortly.

"It's like everyone wants an excuse to do the same things that they rail against the rest of the time."

Lisa, you're a breath of fresh air.

I won't even touch gendered insult reclamation, because I've delivered my sermon on it in a recent community post.

Suffice it to say:

AlaraRogers is dead-on with her linguistic analysis.

And AlaraRogers and I agree that "asshole" is appropriate. In fact, it's the only insult I feel comfortable using: totally non-gendered, non-raced, non-SPECIED (other animals have assholes too), non-age, non-size.

I don't hurl words at people that simultaneously insult entire groups of people; I limit myself to insulting the individual in front of me.

Can someone offer me an argument why "[Woman's name] is a Cunt" is funny? Apt? Even mildly acceptable?

I genuinely want to hear arguments different from my own.

Also, did anyone else pick up on this or did I imagine it: Did McCain in the debate tonight say something like "Well, some of YOUR [Obama's} supporters wear shirts that say very nasty things?"

Was this the shirt?

I agree with McCain on this point.

I guess that when it comes down to it, yeah, it's not nice to insult people - but I don't want my speech censored in any way, by any group of people. It sucks that people make racist and sexist comments all the time, but essentially, I have to support their right to do so because that's what gives me the right to counter what they are saying.

So, great discussion, but I'm not super offended by their shirts and if I am going to fight for something, I will fight for their right to say what they want to say vs. their our right for them not to say it. KWIM?

Can someone offer me an argument why "[Woman's name] is a Cunt" is funny? Apt? Even mildly acceptable?

I genuinely want to hear arguments different from my own.

Also, did anyone else pick up on this or did I imagine it: Did McCain in the debate tonight say something like "Well, some of YOUR [Obama's} supporters wear shirts that say very nasty things?"

Was this the shirt?

I agree with McCain on this point.
******************************************
Edited to add: But ONLY on this point. And Ichuckle over the irony of the "my wife is a cunt" denouncing the word in other places, but the hypocrisy should make us MORE eager to hold anti-Palin hate to the same standard as anti-Obama hate.

"It sucks that people make racist and sexist comments all the time, but essentially, I have to support their right to do so because that's what gives me the right to counter what they are saying."

Just to clarify, Bex, are you saying that it sucks that people including YOU use gendered/racialized/etc. insults or just that it sucks that other people use them but that they should have the right to air their opinions, no matter how harmful or offensive?

My response to the first argument is that if it sucks so much, you have the power to change your own behavior. It IS hard to break out of the habits we've fallen into, especially when the dominant society so totally encourages us in continuing in those habits, but it can be done.

My response to the second argument: I don't think it's an infliction of people's "rights" to point out how harmful it is for them to wear those shirts. It doesn't do Obama a bit of good. And it does not reflect well on these so-called "progressives" that they delight in using historically gendered insults.

Oops, I meant "I don't think it's an infringement" on people's rights.

Also, for the record, I think "dick" and "prick" are harmful insults as well. (Although perhaps less historically laden than "cunt").

Bex,
When I call McCain a dickhead its simply another word for misogynist. I.e. like he wears a dick crown that he wants to push on everyone. I dont see it as the equal opposite of calling a woman a 'cunt' (in the negative). Calling a woman a cunt is using her oppressed past against her and trying to chain her to it in modern times. Its not the empowering slang feminists and pro-women use amongst each other.

I think it's important to note the difference between denouncing what people say and outlawing it. I don't think any of us are trying to take away free speech rights, but we're using ours to make sure people know we're against this kind of ridiculous hypocrisy and sexism. I just emphasize that because it's something anti-feminists and the "why do I have to care that people are oppressed" crowd pick on us for, without realizing that we complain about horrible comments without the intention to ban them by force (although we would like it if people would willingly stop saying them).

As for dick vs. cunt, I think cunt is worse for the reason that gopher just explained, but I also think it's worth considering that any gendered insult, regardless of what it conjures up, is bad just because it's gendered, because it helps us think of bad women differently than we think of bad men.

Bex, for the purposes of this particular discussion, censorship is a red herring. Nobody here is saying "you shouldn't be allowed to wear shirts like this" -- they're saying that it hurts the cause of gender equality and also hurts the pro-Obama/Biden (or at the very least, anti-McCain/Palin) cause.

There's a big difference between saying, "You should be silenced!" and saying, "What you're doing is shooting yourselves and, by extension, the rest of us in the foot. We want to make you aware of this, and we are going to disassociate ourselves from you."

Besides it being offensive, the shirt just FAILS so badly.
When I look at it, I think... okay here's someone who couldn't come up with an intelligent comment or criticism.
So, in their mind, they were like "Uh, okay we don't like Palin. She's a woman. Oh, I know. She's a CUNT! Get it?! Let's put that on a shirt."

And why do some people get this idea that just because a WOMAN says something sexist against another woman, it's somehow not sexist? How many times do we have to hear women in the media talk about how women shouldn't have jobs or how women aren't as intelligent as men before the general public FINALLY REALIZES that yes, women can be sexist against other women. And that YES, it's just as unacceptable. Honestly, by women doing shit like this, it just makes men feel more comfortable in saying really sexist shit.

Pardon me for changing the subject a little, but for years my office championed a new mild cuss word.

Keeping in mind that men's sexuality is often viewed as good, and women's usually bad (which is why "He's got balls," is good --even, with grudging respect, "He's a prick," but "She's a bitch, she's a c " is bad,) we came up with a women-empowering word: Lips.

I got the LIPS to stand up for myself. I'm a lippy woman, ya got a problem with that? If I can work up the lips, I'm gonna challenge that decision.

Yup, I got lips!

Although I realize that many women find the word cunt offensive (and with good reason), the original meaning of this word is highly positive.

Will explain: Ancient Britons were pagans and worshipped the power of women. The word cunt meant "goddess" or "high priestess" and was used to describe the highest order of women within the early pagan faith.

After the Romans invaded, they brought with them patriarchy and christianity. They gradually denigrated women and installed patriarchy to such an extent that any faith that held women in high esteem was destroyed - and as a by-product, any words which complimented women were scewed and demonized.

This continued over the following centuries until we have the situation we are in now - that the word cunt is seen as a horrible way to describe a woman.

So with this is mind - when I get called a cunt, I laugh and say thanks!! They are basically calling me a goddess!

Do not mean to offend anyone here - but as we all now, patriarchy has successfully lied to women about our true heritiage for far too long, so I think that educating people on the word cunt (and it's true meaning)- and that reclaiming it, can only be a massive step forward for feminism.

To add on to the previous comment:

The word "cunt" and "cunning" come from the same linguistic source. It used to have positive connotations up until a few hundred years ago, IIRC. Really interesting history. I believe the word "cuneiform" is also related (meaning the writing used by ancient Sumerians that looks like wedges).

HAHAHAHA!!! those shirts are freakin awesome.

Where can I buy one?

Ah, cuneiform, cunt, the triangle as a symbol of female genitalia that I ran across via the French word "coin" recently, it all makes sense now! (And the joke about a "cunning linguist" isn't that creative anymore, as cunnilingus comes from the same two roots.) And cahiney157, that is an amazing history. I think it really shows how everything that had to do with women being powerful and respected was demonized with the coming of patriarchal religion. Like one time, when I was Christian and struggling with sexism in the Bible, I asked a (female) Christian who was sort of a mentor to my friends and me why God was always referred to as male in the Bible, and she said that all the goddesses at that time tended to be fertility goddesses, implying that connecting God with fertility is obviously horrible and sinful. But the reality is that the Christian God is very much into fertility (descendants as numerous as the stars, barrenness as the worst thing ever, etc), just not into women being in control of it. And y'all know about how the snake that represents Satan in Genesis is thought to have represented the Goddess. It's pretty systematic.

Thanks for telling us about that!

ok, I think they did take it too far. At first, I was thinking the shirts said something differently, something including both, mccain and palin. But once i truly read it, I wasn't so excited about it anymore.
I too will be making political shirts sometime this week that will bash on the republican party, but I will definitely not bring out the sexist card. I am not, was never, and never will be a fan of the sexist card.

ok, I think they did take it too far. At first, I was thinking the shirts said something differently, something including both, mccain and palin. But once i truly read it, I wasn't so excited about it anymore.
I too will be making political shirts sometime this week that will bash on the republican party, but I will definitely not bring out the sexist card. I am not, was never, and never will be a fan of the sexist card.

What if the shirts said, "Palin is FEMALE?"
"a woman?"

"...has matching chromosomes?"

In addition to the offensive word, the fact that the shirt is saying what is wrong with Palin is her gender is offensive.I dislike her not based on her gender, but on her politics.

First we're supposed to like her cuz she's female, then we're supposed to hate her (and ourselves) for being female, all of which effectively diffuses the issues.

As far as dick vs. cunt goes, some arguments are actually pretty genitalist. i.e., penises can actually be bad where vaginas can't.

I love the vagina and the penis equally. They both do good and bad. Vaginas may not cause physical pain, but they can rape as well. I refuse to believe my boyfriend's member is a proper insult because someone else is using their member to rape. It's not the tool you should condemn, it's the user.

And yes, I think it's disgusting this girl thinks she isn't sexist saying 'cunt' because she's a woman.

Thanks girlythoughts for the kind words about my comment. And just to add to that: cunt (meaning goddess) in it's proper, original form could actually be seen as a lot less sexist than our modern term "vagina".

Vagina is a supremely sexist term that means "sheath for a sword". In other words that private cleft in our bodies is there for men to stick their "swords" (or penises obviously) in. So basically the vagina is defined by it's usefullness to men and nothing else.

Hence my personal preference is to call my genitals my "cunt". Again - this is my preference and not intended to offend.

But my reasoning is that I will not call the most wonderful, powerful part of my body after a word that only defines it as a hole for someone else's use (it is MINE not theirs) so I use cunt because it gives me the powerful goddess definition that it was originally meant to do.

And it is funny, that because most people don't know the original meaning of the word, they are shocked when I use it to describe my genitals - until I explain the meaning of both words and they are surprised. Or perhaps it is because I am being very open about loving my genitals - women aren't supposed to do that!!

So yes - great point also about the snake being the woman. It really does show just how pathetically brainwashed by patriarchy we have all been throughout the centuries.