Just Curious Poll. Is it sexist to describe a female politician as a harpy?

[cali]

11 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes
	6 (55%)
	No
	5 (45%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[cali]

1. For anyone who voted NO, a question: Is it OK in your mind, to call a black person "uppity"?

Oops. Total space out: I wrote YES initially in my question. I meant NO.

[NuclearDem]

4. No, it's not.

[Zorra]

6. On edit, no, of course not! nt

[hlthe2b]

8. No. and I don't understand why you would even feel the need to ask such a thing.

[cali]

16. I screwed up. I meant to write no.

I spaced out on what the original poll question was.

[NCTraveler]

9. I think there would be a higher probablility....

of an affirmative if you asked the "no" responses your follow up. Anyway, the answer for me in the poll is yes, and no to your follow up.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. are you fucking kidding us with these questions? Hell no, It is not OK to do either

seriously

[cali]

11. I wrote Yes in my question when I meant no.

That simple. My apologies.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

15. ok, thanks. you were warping my brain. honestly though, that we have to even ask these questions on

this board any more.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. Oh, no, please don't bring up the H word,

although in my defense it wasn't a politician I was talking about way back when.

[Takket]

3. harpy is a gender specific word and would be considered sexist

when used as an insult (much like B****)

[NYC_SKP]

5. I would acribe a designation of "low grade" as a sexist term, but still sexist.

Sad to say, there are so many sexist terms, some horrid, that I wouldn't lump them all together.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. lol ... low grade

somehow makes it sound worse ... LOL

omg ... as if to be damned with faint praise.

on lordie me. thanks for this laugh.

so funny.

my poor brain.

[NYC_SKP]

31. Not to be confused with "Low Down"....

Like "Low Down Dirty....." and then followed by some absurd thing.


On the topic, I learned one thing and one thing only during the OJ trials that I didn't know before.

Hysterical is a sexist term, given the etymology.

While we might use it to describe a man or a woman who might be in an agitated state, it's technically a sexist term.

Low grade, I'd say.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

32. should I compare it to dickhead? is dickhead similiarly low grade?

just stop, please. you have already inserted your foot and are now chewing up to your knee.

I don't want you to hurt yourself the day before your surgery.

[NYC_SKP]

35. They're all sexist, in the end.

And yes, thanks, I'm bowing out now.

Thanks for the well wishes!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

37. and this is why I love ya, man

[Gormy Cuss]

28. Why does it matter where on the spectrum of sexism it's placed?

Do you grade racist terms too?

[NYC_SKP]

33. Because words matter and some words are more destructive than others.

Wanting to fit all of anything into a nice box is handy, but thoughtful people might want to recognize that there are shades of offensiveness.

"Hysterical" is not as abusive and hurtful as "C***".

Some words have even lost their meaning. How may people even know the etymology of hysterical or harpy?

Alternatively, Ni***** is clearly a specific racial epithet. So, yes, I also grade racist and homophobic terms.

I use a weighted scale, with regional modifications.

[Gormy Cuss]

45. Thoughtful people also recognize that all are offensive

and that there is a cumulative deleterious effect when less abusive ones are used with impunity.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

34. honestly.

it boggles the mind.

[ZombieHorde]

43. Are you really going to freak out if someone said "what a gyp?"

"Gyp" is racist but it isn't even close to the n-word in our culture.

Is calling a guy a "dick" the same as calling a woman a c-word? Of course not, even though both are sexist.

There is obviously a spectrum and that spectrum matters very much in our culture.

[Gormy Cuss]

46. Gyp is an ethnic slur and yes, I've pointed that out when it's said in my presence.

No, calling a guy a dick isn't the same but there IS no equivalent because of power dynamics, just as there is no racial equivalent for whites to n*****.

The spectrum matters in terms of an individual response but as I noted above, lesser offensive terms used without challenge can have a cumulative effect that is just as injurious.

[ZombieHorde]

51. Your point about the cumulative effect is pretty good.

I don't think "gyp" is as bad as the n-word in our culture, so I do believe there is a significant spectrum, but you made a good point.

[Gormy Cuss]

52. A funny story about "gyp"

I was sitting with colleagues at lunch and someone used the term "gypped." I pointed out gently that it was an ethnic slur and should be avoided. One of the other people piped up to say that it was just slang and no more an ethnic slur than saying someone "jewed you."

[ZombieHorde]

53. That is funny. nt

[msanthrope]

48. Yes. Please mansplain to me exactly how much outrage I'm allowed

on your grading scale.

Next, I can't wait for your grading scale on racist or homophobic terms....Oh Wait, you already did that in post #33.

Because that's what this board lacks......another white, straight, privileged male telling the rest of us where he lumps in terms that never apply to him.

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. No.

Fiorina is a woman, and that mythical monster is something she is being compared to.

[cali]

13. It's long been used as a term to belittle women. Almost exclusively outside

the mythical realm.

[TheCowsCameHome]

49. Maybe so. I've never heard it before.

However, Pierce is specifically targeting Fiorina in this instance. She is a monster of sorts.

[Arkana]

14. If you can come up with any male-specific derogatory terms

for asshole male politicians, let me know.

Until then, when I see Sarah Palin screeching out another word salad about Obama being a tyrant on TV, I will continue calling her a harpy. If the shoe fits and all that.

[cali]

17. So you're not going to carp if HIllary gets called a harpy?

[Arkana]

19. I expect it from them, and I know she's not.

They can call Hillary a harpy, but anyone with a brain knows she's not. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, is a skeletal, overly made-up, shrieking moron who goes on TV and blathers long, undecipherable word salads about how terrible Obama and the Democrats are.

She's a harpy.

[LanternWaste]

40. We do like to rationalize our biases and pretend we've put thought into them...

We do like to rationalize our biases and pretend we've put thought into them...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. I don't particularly like the words but asshole and fuckhead are gender neutral./NT

[geek tragedy]

21. "ted cruz" nt

[uppityperson]

23. Do you call McCain or Cruz a harpy? If not, why not?

[Gormy Cuss]

25. Why is a gender-specific term necessary?

Asshole works for all.

If "Sarah Palin screeching out another word salad about Obama being a tyrant on TV" qualifies as being a harpy, I assume you'll be using the term on Ted Cruz too.

[Comrade Grumpy]

26. Chris Christie is a dick.

[NuclearDem]

39. Because men are so terribly oppressed.

And there's a litany of insults designed to remind them how they're less than others.

Oh wait, nevermind, that's total bullshit. My bad.

[morningfog]

20. Seems clear to me to be a sexist term.

[Prism]

22. I would imagine calling any female one is sexist.

Politician or not.

[cigsandcoffee]

24. Depends. Is she? n/t

[Tuesday Afternoon]

27. cute.

[Maedhros]

29. Is it necessary or even useful to level personal insults at politicians

when attacking their ideas is more effective?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

36. ^this^

[JEB]

30. Harpy: A grasping unpleasant woman.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

38. note. the word. woman. thus, sexist. that simple. the end. eom.

[Kalidurga]

41. People who use the term have no understanding of the mythology

if they did they wouldn't use it in a derogatory way.

[Vinca]

42. I think we're becoming way too politically correct.

[ZombieHorde]

44. Yes, unless the person is playing D&D.

[earthside]

47. Why?

Has someone called a female politician a "harpy" recently?

[cali]

50. Yes. Charles Pierce about Carly Fiorini