Do you mean communicate generally or just be rude? Ever since I've had daughters, I've been working hard to not use female-gendered words as insults - it's been surprisingly gratifying. There's a lot to be said for putting some imagination into your invective.

More seriously, my girls logged some significant time listening to Laura Engles Wilder (sp?) stories on a recent road-trip, and I had to eventually intervene and tell them that "squaw" was actually based on a rude word and completely inappropriate for a native american woman. Cue a trip to the Smithsonian.

I can't believe you made me laugh!

I am in a seriously feminist funk. I am looking forward to the speech tonight, but not at all to the punditry that will encapsulate it.

If I hear one more word about what she is wearing or going to wear I think I will just scream.

I could be mistaken, but isn't PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) a self-imposed name?

What about "Dick"? Quite fitting that it's Cheney's first name.

Oh, and I hate MILF like no other, worse than cunt even. It's demeaning, reducing women to pure sex objects and nothing else.

Chris has a point there.

"Chode" is one of my favorite derogatory words, usually used with reference to a male, with a common meaning (among others) being a certain a part of the anatomy.

I just love how it feels to call someone a chode.

ePriddy, I'm surprised at you - don't you know that America is a place where we're judged not by the content of our character but the color of our pantsuits? The only path to immunity is a navy or navy chalkstripe suit... and exterior plumbing.

Where does "chode" come from?

And I certainly didn't call myself a PUMA! I had to look it up and am pretty sure I am not one as I have resigned myself to voting for the party.

I sometimes call some men "Scrote", which is not a good thing, no offense to saggy hairy scrotums everywhere.

Brilliant, isn't it, how 'lefties' manage to bash a lot of Clinton supporters using such rubbish.

::sigh::

Personally, I'm a big fan of the word 'cunt'. Reminds me of my time in Scotland, and I loved Scotland. How couldn't I consequently love 'cunt'.

:-)

RCMoya - blast it, so much for my declaration about non-gendered insults.

There's a great book called Cunt by Inga Muscio. I don't use cunt myself, unless invited, in which case it can be an incredibly erotic word. I don't like the urban myth that seems to paint men as everyday rapists.

Rapists? Never heard of that before, Robin.

In any case, a sexy feminist (and Scottish!) rocker convinced me long ago that 'cunt' is cool. :)

Where does "chode" come from?

Some have defined it as the space 'tween.

And I certainly didn't call myself a PUMA! I had to look it up and am pretty sure I am not one as I have resigned myself to voting for the party.

I wasn't referring to you or any other unwilling target of the label. I meant that the term (I believe) was created by the PUMAs themselves.

Good on you to vote Democratic despite your initial choice not getting the nomination. I would have done the same for Hillary in an instant.

Some years ago a famous feminist wrote a book. In it, she claimed that 1 in 4 women are raped in the U.S. General statistics show that there are an estimated 685,000 rapes of women per year. Now, that's 685,000 rapes too many, however, given the current census, it does not support that 1 in 4 men are rapists.

1 in 4 women are raped. sorry....too busy watching the news.

I've been trying to stop using the term "douchebag." That's really the only female-gendered insult word I use regularly. It's hard to avoid, though -- it's such a good word! But I agree with you completely. MILF is so awful I can't even believe it.

Well I am a PUMA and a Cougar and I love the idea of a wild
animal taking apart our misogynistic culture. "F" Obama and
his crazy cult.

As I said on another post, the reason that PUMAS make others
uncomfortable is because people expect older women to re-
main invisible.

I am not afraid to appear "uncool"

INVISIBLE NO LONGER

Ok. This is embarrassing. But what does MILF stand for?

Well since no-one else is jumping in... DakiniDancer - MILF stands for Mommy I'd Like to Fuck.

Well. Ahem. Thank you Haggismold. To tell you the truth, I still
don't get it, but I 'spect I'm in denial.

Onward through the Fog!

According to urban dictionary, a Puma is "a young woman typically in the age range of 20 to 32. They lurk in the shadows of bars and clubs wearing the newest fashions and listening to the trendiest music. They mostly hunt in packs for a man typically younger than them that they can string around for the night and make there boy toy".

The PUMA I was referring to in my blog (Obama Mamas) was referencing the die hard Hillary Clinton fans as Chris in D.C. correcting pointed out (Political Unity My Ass).

I have my own theory on where the words cougar, puma and MILF come from (Haggismold, you're pretty right. As it was explained to me, it's Mother I'd Like to F.....)

The origin? Bottom line..my children's generation (not them...their generation)...products of an MTV generation gone bad (redundant).

I'm going to do some research on this.

My daughters think that "feminism" is a distasteful word.

This makes me crazy. I didn't raise them this way...I think we've regressed since the glory days of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedman.

Who are our sons and daughter's role models? Ask them...and hope it's not someone on the latest cover of People or US Magazines.

They have a website. And Chris is correct, it is a self created name.

I'm pretty tired of the whole "Fuckability Continuum For Naming Females". I've always loathed MILF. Might as well call it "Madonna AND whore!" adding a woo hoo of course at the end.

Men...are more given hate-filled words based on their parentage or genitalia... "bastard", "dick", "dickhead", "asshole", etc.

I'd be more than happy to drop all of the invective, personally...and the objectification of both men and women. There's a set of societal expectations for both genders that just dishonors us individually and as a species, I think.

Just a couple random thoughts.

- es.

Ah heck, Elliot beat me to it.

There's also the panoply of homosexual insults that get hurled at men, like "queer," "faggot" (and fag), "pouf" (which is more British), and so on. "He's a disco-dancing, Oscar Wilde-reading, Streisand ticket-holding friend of Dorothy." "Dyke" is the only female equivalent that I know of.

I know plenty of gay men that call each other "bitch." I've not heard too many people call women "asshole," however. And can a woman be a "dickhead?" Dare I ask what the converse would be?

I have to say that even I was amused by "the sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits" remark.

Oh, and Elizabeth: yeah, they exist in French and Spanish at least, although I prefer to use French for lengthier cursing, when I can remember it. I would spell some out, but I never learned written French; only bad spoken French. My favorite, though, translates into "He (or she) farts higher than his (or her) own ass."

A nasty curse in Russian would appear to be gender neutral: nyeh kultorney, which is "uncultured." Of course, most languages have the equivalent, yes? "Barbarian." Gaijin, gringo, gwailo, wetback, etc. etc.

Happy B'Earthday, Elizabeth!

- karen