What words are allowed/not allowed on DU about women?

[efhmc]

What words can we labeled as sexist without repercussions?

[NJCher]

1. what are you asking?

What derogatory words you can use for women?

Why bring gender into it? Just use a word that's applicable to either men or women. Like buffoon. Buffoon fits MTG very well

[efhmc]

6. Called down for saying someone should not call a woman a bitch.

i thought that was a given that one did not do here.

[niyad]

7. You were saying someone should not call a woman a bitch and

somebody disagreed with you? Am I understanding you correctly?

[willamette]

9. I usually chip in

I usually chip in with my solution for all generalized derogatory words for women: "ball sack." My 30 something friend substitutes in "scrotum," or "scrotums" when answering inappropriate cat calls. As in, "Hey, scrotums!" If nothing else, this calls the inappropriateness glaringly into the spotlight. I haven't come up with a non-gender-reliant term yet, but I am always alert to possibilities.

So, I try (not always successfully) to show my preferred wording, rather than correcting theirs. I restate. A big problem is that some women feminists use "bitch" and other women-putdowns, in order to contest them, or to reclaim them, as has been done with "crone." It is an uphill battle, but one that is worth waging, I think.

It seems like several of the replies in these comments implied that you were trying to defend your use of the offensive term, rather than trying to curtail its use by someone else. I'm trying to retrain myself to say, "I find that offensive," rather than "That is offensive (don't use it)." Also a hard climb.

edit: grammar, parenthetical

[efhmc]

10. Best 3 out of three: understanding the problem, good advise on responses to the use of negative words and correction of

who said/wrote the word in question (and it was not me). I thank you for taking the time to digest and write a response. It is appreciated.

[willamette]

12. And I appreciate your courage in putting up the post.

Did you know that "spinster" was the original independent woman? It was a woman who had income from spinning, and thus wasn't dependent on being married to survive. Funny (not) how it came to be derisive.

[onecaliberal]

2. It's not worth it.

We are all irate.

[TwilightZone]

3. If the question has to be asked, it's probably best to refrain.

[EarlG]

4. Are you asking for a list?

DU doesn't work like that. Any time you use a word to describe a woman that other people here might consider sexist, you run the risk of having that post removed by a Jury. There isn't a list of words you can use and a list of words you can't, so my advice would be to err on the side of caution and try to avoid any sexist language altogether. It's really shouldn't be hard to do.

[efhmc]

11. I was actually shocked that the use of the word "bitch" was ok on DU. Thank you for the clarification.

[MOMFUDSKI]

5. If you have to inquire about the nitty gritty

you are on the wrong site. We are an accepting bunch here not looking for slights.