Is calling someone a slut worse than calling them a LIAR or a Socialist?

[Bandit]

If so why? Is it because of the SEX taboo or is there an imaginary line that gets crossed. How about a Whore or a Prick. Are those equally bad.. Why did no one on the Right get upset when a US Congressman called the President a LIAR or the numerous times Obama has been called other names I would consider worse..Racist for example..

[bobbolink]

1. After all we fought for, and people STILL don't get what MISOGYNY is about.

Even Bill Press called it what it was this morning.. what is the ignorance here about?

[DearAbby]

2. Amen

[bobbolink]

5. I was just telling a grocery checker this morning that I don't think even women care anymore

about being treated with common courtesy and R-E-S-P-E-C-T (a misogynist jerk was just fired in the store... after 22 years of groping co-workers and customers alike!)

Its popular for women to say, "I'm not a feminist."

So, I say, lets just give the fuck up, go back to how it was in the 50s (although the language wasn't so raw then), and maybe then the younger ones will GET IT.

It is sad beyond words. I just don't have the fight left, anymore. Have at it women... trash it all. Then see just how jolly it is.

Anyone who knows anything at all about domestice violence KNOWS that usually the denigrating sexual slurs come first... then the physical starts.

What's not to get?

[GodlessBiker]

9. +1,000. Just stop putting women down because they are women ...

who choose to have sex with whom they want. Just enough of it. That's really what this is all about. A man telling a woman that she is an unworthy female because she is not betrothed to one man but rather samples the field just like any man feels he has the right to do. It's about telling women that they should not claim the same rights as men. it was a disgusting and revealing comment Ed made.

[Bandit]

4. So to you the entire thing is about women and not name calling.

:crazy: I guess there is more than one way to understand things...

[bobbolink]

6. Yeah, of course. Everyone is crazy except you. So, lets throw it all to the wind, and just have a

jolly good time trashing everyone.

I supppose the "n" word is next to be OK'd. Because, after all, that is just an insult.... not racist.

[vi5]

11. It's not about women? Seriously?

If it's not about women and her being a woman why didn't he call her a "right wing jerk" or a "right wing a-hole"? Why slut? And if it's not about a woman, then would he have called Rush Limbaugh a Right Wing Slut? If he's used that word on men before on his show then I stand corrected. But I'm pretty sure the examples of him doing that won't be forthcoming.

[JackintheGreen]

12. It's a GENDERED insult

that devalues her for being a woman, not on substance.

ANYONE can be a liar, and such a charge can be demonstrably true or false.

ONLY WOMEN can be 'sluts' in the derogatory way, and they become so based on the subjective value judgements of others based upon (presumed) private choices over what said 'slut' did with her body. To be sure, its a social construction, but its the one we live within.

Ed crossed a line, and a big one.

[Doctor Hurt]

16. to be fair to Ed...

He owned up to it, and apologized in a meaningful way. I give him props for that. We all screw up, we all get carried away. But he took responsibility for it. You don't see that a lot.

[JackintheGreen]

24. I agree entirely, and give him all due credit.

He also actually called her a "talk slut", which could have been meant in a less gendered way as someone who will say anything anywhere for attention (or something similar), but 'slut' is too loaded a word.

I tend to doubt that Ed was making substantive value judgements on her sexual behavior, but it was an uncalled and unprofessional slur that has engendered a lot of ugly and sexist responses, even here on DU. I am coming to believe that the fall-out has been far worse than the actual slur.

[Matariki]

17. +1

[seabeyond]

27. the ignorance is we are warpying into a society that demeaning and degrading women is a norm

it is no longer just the asshole needing to degrade a woman, but a society as a whole working awfully damn hard to reduce women to their personal slut and whore. all women. all the time.

[bobbolink]

28. You are correct. In addtion, the demeaning and degradation is equal-opportunity. It applies to

poor people, to Christians, to anyone that a person disagrees withl.

Sociopathic.

Yet, here on DU, it is defended as "free speech".

[lightningandsnow]

39. Thank you.

[theHandpuppet]

52. +1000

There are times the misogyny here is so bad I feel as if I woke up to find myself at a frat party -- and it seems to be getting worse all the time.

[xmas74]

57. Thank you!

I'm so tired of seeing and hearing it, even on here.

[demmiblue]

60. +1 ... not surprised, though :(

[Doctor Hurt]

3. But DADDY, they called me names first!!!!!!!!!!!

I hear that from my kids. I don't need to hear it from adults.

[bobbolink]

8. !!!!

:applause:

[vi5]

7. Really? Are people on here defending this?

"this" presumably being whether Ed was wrong to call Ingraham a "slut"? Seriously/ We're even questioning whether this was wrong or whether it was a stupid thing for him to say? Or whether they called/call us worse names?

[seabeyond]

26. really. that is really what is happening. i laughed the first 20 threads i read.. but they call us

even my kids know that is not going to fly. adn this is adult after adult seriously saying, but they dont apologize

a real wtf

[bobbolink]

34. ALWAYS.

Misogyny has always been a factor on DU.

ALWAYS.

[Swede]

10. Is calling someone a n****r worse than calling them a liar or a socialist?

Just sayin'

[GodlessBiker]

13. Indeed. It's an apt analogy.

[Swede]

15. One lesson I learned on DU,when someone tells me something insults them

I believe them.

[bobbolink]

35. Thank you.

[JohnnyRingo]

58. Far worse.... No one has to lie or be a socialist

People are born black and have the right to be proud of their African American heritage.

[HappyMe]

14. Personally, calling me a liar is far worse.

Yell 'slut' or 'socialist' at me and I'll :eyes: and move on.

'Liar' is an attack on my character and values.

[pipi_k]

21. Well, the word slut

is also an attack on your character and values.

Or, I would think it would be.

Sluts are generally dirty and amoral (they fuck everyone in sight). Sluts sleep around to get favors. Sluts don't give a rat's ass about how their behavior affects their family.

And sluts obviously don't have any self-respect.

I dunno. Seems pretty bad to me, but what do I know... :shrug:

[Matariki]

25. And a person with no self-respect should be castigated.

And shamed, and made to feel even worse about themselves.

Obviously I'm being sarcastic. I just have always wondered why people use that particular thing as a reason to ridicule a person - it seems to me like a person with low self esteem needs healing, not criticism or mockery.

And I'm not sure that an active sex life with many partners automatically equates to a lack of self respect. That attitude is part of the problem, because culturally it is an assumption that is typically directed at women - while men on the other hand have traditionally liked to brag of many 'conquests'.

[xmas74]

59. Not only do they not care about how their behaviors

affect their families but other families that might be involved.

They tend to be dirty, nasty people that few really want to associate with on a personal level. IMO, it's a horrible thing to say about someone.

[1awake]

23. Actually being called a slut

would also be an attack on your character and values to. But I think the term slut is no longer gender specific, and applies negatively to both men and women alike. Historically men have used this term to degrade women and attempt to put them "in their place".

[TorchTheWitch]

30. the whole problem with group bias slurs is they don't degenerate just you

It doesn't matter if the word doesn't bother you if someone slurs you with it, what matters is that it degenerates everyone else in the group that the word slurs... just like what the "N" word does.

[joeybee12]

18. Well, since you wouldn't use the term...ever...for a man, then yes, it is worse...nt

[notesdev]

19. Yes it is worse

Attacking someone on immutable characteristics - things they couldn't change if they wanted to - is bigotry.

In this case the target isn't known (to my knowledge) to meet the colloquial definition of that slang term, so that attack can't even be excused or mitigated on that basis. To attack any woman in that way is to attack ALL women, and no man worthy of the name ought to be OK with that.

I have been noticing a disturbing and increasing willingness of progressives to throw the principles that made liberalism the nation-changing force it was under the bus in the name of political expedience.

Examples:
- starting with Clinton and continuing to today, the willingness to shove women back into the sexual object box and not treat them as full human beings
- the simple yearning to live in peace is now scoffed at in favor of ever-more-numerous wars and other offensive meddling in other countries all around the world (btw we may already be in a low level war with Pakistan now, our media hasn't told you this but if you read Pakistani media they are pretty open about it)
- the principle of respecting civil liberties for all has been turned on its head and now all sorts of police state measures are suddenly OK if they provide union jobs (TSA, prison industries, surveillance programs, more and more cops everywhere, etc.)

I wonder, when will racism be acceptable if uttered by a "progressive"? Will mocking the disabled be excused as well?

As liberals we had principles and we stuck to them through hell or high water because they were the right thing to do. What disturbs me about this new "progressive" movement is that is doesn't seem to have any principles other than the advancement and accumulation of power. I see no point to aspiring to power unless that power is going to be used to do the right thing. If it's not, it is no benefit to us when the exercise of that power is functionally identical to what the other side wants to do.

[Matariki]

20. It's more akin to "faggot" in the way it's been used to shame and hurt

I really doubt anyone would be arguing much about this if Ed Schultz had instead called someone a 'faggot'.

It surprises me how many men here just don't get how the word 'slut' has been used to demean women and "put them in their place".

[ItNerd4life]

44. Faggot is a great example. Hopefully some people will learn by your post. nt

[RyanPsych]

22. WE are better than that

The fact that Ed publicly apologized (and not the fake half-ass apologies too often in the news)just underscores the fact that the left is that much better than the right. Granted- it was pretty awful for him to call her a slut.

[latinaliberal]

29. he needed to apologize

And he did. He apologized to her and to his boss, and family. The sad part is that laura, was not willing to accept the apology in a mature and professional way, She resorted to juvenile digs at Ed and his radio show. This the difference between Liberals and Conservatives, we don't view apologizing as weakness but as being human. Laura, is very petty, mean and just plain ignorant.
She and ann coulter should just go away....

[Myrina]

31. You can call me anything you can think of, how I take it is my problem ...

... words are just words. Yes I'm female. Yes my minor was gender studies. But I've given up the pearl clutching and come to realize that the problem lies with the value we assign both the words and the person saying them. So, call me whatcha want but if you're not someone I give a rats' ass about and I know the terminology doesn't apply to me, you're just blowing hot air.

We all need to learn to detach and remove emotion from words, things and people.


(cue the righteous gaspers and insulted highbrows ... :yawn: )

[EFerrari]

32. LOL.

You know, it's called social justice because this isn't only about you, yourself and you and another person.

[Bunny]

33. So, all those ni**ers and fa**ots just need to calm down?

Is that really what you're saying? That's pretty boring and one-dimensional. :boring:, indeed.

[JohnnyRingo]

47. Blacks and gays can't change, nor should they have to.

As Gaga would say, "they're born that way", and they're hurtful terms used to demean entire races or what bigots consider unacceptable life styles of people who have no choice.

On the other hand, if a woman is a bitch, slut or "worse", she can become otherwise.
If you dare say I'm picking on women specifically I'll say the same about pricks, assholes, dickheads, and perverts.

Yes "pervert". If someone says they were accosted by some pervert at the mall no one imagines an old woman sitting at the concourse fountain hooting at young men. Gender specific terms exist because the people they describe exist.

Gender specific terms are used because sometimes there is no better word to describe a person who strays outside the bounds of social mores. When everyone becomes sweetness and light, the language will disappear forever. Meanwhile, derogatory slang is how we often express ourselves and I'll guarantee women use the word "slut" much more than men. It's long since become more a catty name to describe what many men call an attractive woman than an attempt to demean all women for all time to second rate citizen.

[wickerwoman]

53. Yes, they can become otherwise.

They can behave the way men have defined women should behave and then they won't be "bitches" and "sluts".

And honestly, who cares what it does to people to have their role in society defined for them by a hostile majority? If they step out of line, they deserve to be put back into their place. After all, they really *are* bitches so how can it be wrong to call them that?

:sarcasm:

[JohnnyRingo]

55. My first wife was one of the most disagreeable persons you would ever hope not to meet.

calling her such only scratches the surface of her nature, and I, as well as her mother and sister, reserve the right to describe her in a more fitting and apt term when it applies. It isn't a matter of her "conforming to what men expect of her", she is just impossible to be near for extended periods regardless of gender. Since we have retained a close 38 year relationship for the sake of aiding in the raising our grandchildren, I'll defend her by saying her third husband was a total prick to her for much of the ten years they were married.

There I go again using a gender specific term to demean all men for not living up to what women define as "proper behavior", but I can't offhand think of a more accurate term.

To reiterate my original point, when a woman walks into a bar dressed to kill and proceeds to work the line, stroking the thigh of any man who looks like they'll buy her a drink, no one notices by saying "there's a liberated woman", or "she's really enjoying her sexual freedom". While some half drunk men may give her the benefit of the doubt and a rum & coke, I guarantee every woman in the bar is saying "slut" under her breath.

I don't make the social rules of life, I'm just along for the ride.

[Odin2005]

36. Yes, because it's like calling a gay person f*ggot.

[Shagbark Hickory]

37. I don't see how. One is a slur, the other an adjective.

But I guess most people here don't agree with me. I support ed on this one and I think he shouldn't apologize. It's like saying "whore" and if at some point that made "slut" a slur well I guess I was absent that day.

[Odin2005]

40. BOTH are slurs.

It's a misogynistic attack on women based on old notions about there being something morally and psychologically wrong with women who enjoy sex.

[JohnnyRingo]

48. Fail.

while racial or homophobic slurs are aimed to demean people born that way, "slut" can describe some woman who steps outside the bounds of social mores.

A case in point is what to call a woman who walks into a bar and proceeds to work her way down the bar stroking the thighs of anyone who looks like they might buy her a drink. While many men present would call her "interesting", I know what every woman in the bar would call her, and it isn't "sexually active". On the other hand, if a man did that we'd call him a "pervert", or more likely an "ambulance".

I hate to be a "prick" about it, because that would demean all men for all time as the meaner sex, but these words exist because these people exist.

[wickerwoman]

54. And was Laura Ingraham in a bar stroking peoples' thighs?

No? Then why was it OK to call her a "slut" in the middle of a discussion about politics?

This isn't about her being literally sexually promiscuous. It's about calling someone you don't like promiscuous as an insult inferring that there is something wrong with women being promiscuous in the first place.

And women have been busting their asses since the 1960s (*fifty fucking years*) to point out the double standard between women being called "sluts" for the exact some behavior that makes men "studs".

[JohnnyRingo]

56. I never said it was alright for Schultz to address her as a slut.

He properly apologized in no uncertain terms for what was an unwarranted slur against a woman he didn't even know intimately. Since he obviously hasn't a clue about her sexual proclivity, he clearly was refering in context to her using her sexuality to advance her position at Fox News, as so many female anchors there shamelessly appear want to do. Personally, I don't see it in Ingraham as much as when Ann Coulter runs the lint brush over her black mini dress everytime her latest hate book hits the shelves.

My beef is with people who say the word "slut" is unacceptable under any circumstance. Some here would make the point that a woman who leaves a bar three times in one night for front seat blow-jobs is just a "liberated" woman exercising her sexual freedom. I'd say she's a slut that no decent man would be seen with.

I don't believe such behavior from men who treat women as sexual objects designed for their own satisfaction as socially acceptable either. I'd refer to them in gender specific terms like " conceited assholes" or "dickheads" and imply that (like all men?) their small brains are located completely between their legs. We shouldn't use these words to paint everyone of a gender with a broad brush, but sometimes the name fits an individual so well.

[blm]

38. It's been OK for GOP mouthpieces to call Kerry a gigolo for years - not ONE news network objects.

Kerry doesn't carry their water for them so his name is allowed to be smeared.

[Gormy Cuss]

41. Is calling someone a liar or a socialist sexist? Racist? n/t

[La Lioness Priyanka]

42. yes, it is. nt

[marmar]

43. Socialist is a compliment.

nt

[Fire1]

45. It is to me, anyway. But, I'm a minority so I've got bigger

problems. Guess that's why the "female" names don't bother me so much.

[xmas74]

61. I find it to be a compliment.

Slut, OTOH, is something I'm not so happy to hear. My ex used to call me that name along with many others before he hit me.

[retread]

46. I don't know why, but once again DU surprises me. This time --- The number of members proud and

loud of their overt misogyny.

[Philippine expat]

49. Two things

First, is it a slur if it is the truth?
Second, she is too butt ugly to be a slut/

[robcon]

50. Much worse.

n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

51. Misdirection.

:think: