I've been gone a few days swamped at work and this is what I come back to?

[TeamsterDem]

85. So, that you're a woman gives you the power to know what a man feels?

Last edited Sat Mar 10, 2012, 05:33 PM - Edit history (1)

That's incredible! So much so that I don't believe it - largely because the only reasoning you offer is your gut feeling on what someone else is thinks and feels. The problem with that is that you don't know what other people intend to do literally all of the time, and you don't get to rewrite the dictionary to suit your sensibilities.

The N word is ENTIRELY different because it had NO OTHER USAGE than to disparage an entire race of people, so of course it's mere usage is inherently racist (with the exception of quoting someone else). The C word describes a body part, is a friendly or not friendly unisex insult, AND it has a sexist application. That you're only familiar with the latter - or seem to hurriedly assume that the first 2 common uses simply MUST be the third because you can't figure out the difference - is a failing of yours, not of every speaker. Clearly if a man INTENDS to demean a woman for her gender through WHATEVER word he uses, that would be a sexist act - and there are cases where using the C word was intended to do that. But automatically assuming intent is an irrational, unfounded action.

Think about it a bit more: The N word literally only means one thing, a devaluation of another human being based on race. African Americans don't even say it amongst each other, they instead use a hyphenated version of it which is the way they've ingeniously taken it back. Contrast that with the C word: It's a very crude word, but it does have 3 possible meanings/intentions. So it's mere usage isn't as clear as the N word given that the speaker might intend one, two, or three different things with it, 2 of them being absent a desire to judge women based upon their gender. That and of course some women also use the word - not a hyphenated or "taken-back" version, but the word itself - so that alone suggests it's not always sexist to use it.

I think you do actually require a lesson on what sexism is, as you seem to think it's well defined by who uses what terminology. I'm betting that the vast majority of true sexists would never say the C word in public, but they continue to pay women less - and for that reason they'd never say the word publicly lest their business get sued for gender bias. Or in the case of politicians, I've never heard Bob McDonnell say that word, yet I do know his forced vaginal probe law is horribly sexist.

We are all truly equal, blacks, whites, women, men, all of us. We're all human beings, all created equally. We have different sexual organs, but I've never been one to think that sets our worth. And I think very few people actually believe in gender or racial superiority, although the exceptions to that are unfortunately noisy and tend to be able to affect policy. We should focus our attention on them, the ones who do objectively sexist things which objectively subjugate women and/or minorities for it's they - not the foul-mouthed guy in a bar or some comedian - who are doing tangible harm to people.