What did you call me? On labelling and language in gender discourse

One of the many feminist criticisms of the mens rights movement, and particularly MHRA web sites like ‘A Voice for Men’, is that they are characterised by the frequent use of descriptors of women that are offensive and sexist … terms such as sluts or whores.

Personally I have noticed that there is surprisingly little usage of such terms in MRA sites or blogs. Moreover when such terms do appear they are generally found within comments contributed by readers (some of whom are trolls), rather than in the body of posts or articles themselves. Such put-downs also almost invariably relate to feminists rather than women per se.

It was with interest then that I came across this study ‘Cursing in English on Twitter‘ (see section entitled ‘Cursing Vs Gender’ on page 8). Granted, the study wasn’t about MRA/feminist sites, but the findings are still interesting. The study found, for example, that the the use of terms ‘bitch’ ‘slut’ and ‘whore’ by women was more prevalent than the level of use by men.

This post looks at the issue of online harassment, whilst in another blog post I discuss the terms gender traitor, white knight and mangina.

Another related term that has come to be used increasingly widely is ‘cuck‘, which is  the shortened version of ‘cuckold‘. The common meaning seems to be a person (generally male) who does the bidding of another whilst not truly invested in that person’s (or groups) cause, for example a politician who supports feminist programs out of fear of castigation and/or in the hope of winning the ‘women’s vote’.

See also:

Masculinity and Misogyny in the Digital Age (2016)

‘Lord protect me from easily offended snowflake girls’ (17 October 2016) Ireland

Women most likely to use misogynistic language on Twitter, report finds (17 October 2016) with related Reddit discussion thread here

David Leyonhjelm: NSW Senator lodges complaint over journalist’s claim he is an ‘angry white male’ (15 August 2016)

Female judge stuns courtroom by telling racist thug: ‘You’re a bit of a c*** yourself’ (11 August 2016)

Are we seriously expected to take any liberal feminist seriously? (10 August 2016)

Corporate Cucks … and the language police who protect and serve them (5 August 2016)

The ‘C’ word (‘cuck’) (19 May 2016) Australia. Reddit discussion thread

“What’s mansplaining?” Senator Mitch Fifield offended by Senator Katy Gallagher’s allegation (10 February 2016) Australia. Video

Why Do Feminists And Social Justice Warriors Use So Much Profanity? (2 February 2016)

Is Kerri Sackville a slut? (18 January 2016)

Manspreading, Transgender and Shaming … How the Left Wing controls language (6 November 2015)

Mansults: the put-downs that are always levelled at straight white males (19 September 2015)

Mean Girls: Why the Only People Women Should Fear Online Are Other Women (10 August 2015)

Lena Dunham: The Expression ‘TMI’ Is Sexist (2 October 2014) USA

Ironic misandry: Why feminists pretending to hate men isn’t funny (12 August 2014)

http://m.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/373355/you-cant-whine-your-way-better-world-jim-geraghty

http://www.avoiceformen.com/women/dr-paul-on-the-bitch-double-standard/

http://uberfeminist.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/feminists-support-rape-culture.html

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