Which of these terms are sexist when applied to a female candidate?

[John Dule]

After the recent VP debate, a number of red avatars complained that some of the above descriptors were "sexist" when they were applied to Kamala Harris. I have compiled those adjectives, along with a few other choice words, in this list. Please select all options that you believe inherently expose sexism/misogyny in the user when they are applied to a female politician. Hopefully this exercise will make it easier for all of us to communicate our feelings on Kamala Harris in the future, without immature people accusing us of hating women or minorities.

[PSOL]

After the recent VP debate, a number of red avatars complained that some of the above descriptors were "sexist" when they were applied to Kamala Harris. I have compiled those adjectives, along with a few other choice words, in this list. Please select all options that you believe inherently expose sexism/misogyny in the user when they are applied to a female politician. Hopefully this exercise will make it easier for all of us to communicate our feelings on Kamala Harris in the future, without immature people accusing us of hating women or minorities.

At a minimum; in the current context such adjectives like naggy, b!tchy, sassy, nasty, and shrill are in no doubt sexist terms used against feminine candidates, both identifying as the female gender or appearing to be feminine for somewhat non-binary folk, in public discourse.

Naggy, b!tchy, shrill and sassy are assumed to have gendered, negative connotations. Currently, nasty used now is also in that pile. Specifically, shrill and sassy are used whenever a feminine candidate speaks against a sensibilities of male-dominated society, disrupting the norm of obedience. This can be seen with Elizabeth Warren who was hurled insults for being authoritative in her own right.

[Ferguson97]

Shrill, Naggy, B*tchy, and Nasty

[Santander]

thot

[HisGrace]

Bitchy and that's it. You could just as easily call a man any of these other things. If you're being whiny/condescending/patronizing exc then that's what you are. These are words with definitions.

The fact that nearly all of these have a significant amount of votes goes to show that the left today is going to call any criticism of a woman (or at least one they like, sorry ACB) sexist.

[WD]

Bitchy is the only one that can really be considered sexist.

[John Dule]

Calling a woman a "bitch" does not in itself mark the user of the word as a misogynist. There are plenty of women out there who deserve that label, just as there are plenty of men who deserve the label "asshole."

[Santander]

There is a degree of sexism to most of them, just like there is a degree of racism when sportswriters and pundits praise white athletes for their intelligence and leadership and black athletes for their physical prowess. It's not necessarily sexist in every case, but the general stereotypes are sexist. It's hard to imagine a male politician being criticized for their appearance (people made fun of Bernie a bit, but it was far from actual criticism) or called most of these words.

[John Dule]

There is a degree of sexism to most of them, just like there is a degree of racism when sportswriters and pundits praise white athletes for their intelligence and leadership and black athletes for their physical prowess. It's not necessarily sexist in every case, but the general stereotypes are sexist. It's hard to imagine a male politician being criticized for their appearance (people made fun of Bernie a bit, but it was far from actual criticism) or called most of these words.

Trump and Cruz have spent their entire careers being mocked for what they look like (deservedly).

[Big Abraham]

Have y'all never met a bitchy woman? or man, for that matter?

[Ferguson97]

Have y'all never met a bitchy woman? or man, for that matter?

I knew you were socially reactionary but wow 

People don’t really use “bitchy” to describe an unpleasant man. And obviously I’ve met women I dislike, I just won’t use gendered language like that.

[John Dule]

Have y'all never met a bitchy woman? or man, for that matter?

I knew you were socially reactionary but wow 

People don’t really use “bitchy” to describe an unpleasant man. And obviously I’ve met women I dislike, I just won’t use gendered language like that.

Haha, you don't need to be a social conservative to call a woman a "bitch." Maybe there's some correlation, but I've seen plenty of left-wing activists using that word (and worse) against women they dislike. And for the record, men are often told to "quit bitching" or words to that effect, whereas-- for example-- I have never heard a woman referred to as an "asshole" in my life. So interestingly, I think that word might be more "gendered" in terms of usage than "bitch."

[John Dule]

tbh anyone who has never used the word "bitch" needs to meet my verbally abusive alcoholic high school algebra teacher

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

Have y'all never met a bitchy woman? or man, for that matter?

I knew you were socially reactionary but wow 

People don’t really use “bitchy” to describe an unpleasant man. And obviously I’ve met women I dislike, I just won’t use gendered language like that.

I am pretty sure that actual social reactionaries are those who use "bitch(y)" the least because they are too prude to utter bad words.

Also I am thinking about sigging the bolded part now, lol.

[Left Wing]

Have y'all never met a bitchy woman? or man, for that matter?

I knew you were socially reactionary but wow 

People don’t really use “bitchy” to describe an unpleasant man. And obviously I’ve met women I dislike, I just won’t use gendered language like that.

Haha, you don't need to be a social conservative to call a woman a "bitch." Maybe there's some correlation, but I've seen plenty of left-wing activists using that word (and worse) against women they dislike. And for the record, men are often told to "quit bitching" or words to that effect,

I think there is a bit of a difference there. When a woman is called a bitch it is generally because she is seen as rude but when a man is called a bitch it usually means he is seen as weak.

[John Dule]

Have y'all never met a bitchy woman? or man, for that matter?

I knew you were socially reactionary but wow 

People don’t really use “bitchy” to describe an unpleasant man. And obviously I’ve met women I dislike, I just won’t use gendered language like that.

Haha, you don't need to be a social conservative to call a woman a "bitch." Maybe there's some correlation, but I've seen plenty of left-wing activists using that word (and worse) against women they dislike. And for the record, men are often told to "quit bitching" or words to that effect,

I think there is a bit of a difference there. When a woman is called a bitch it is generally because she is seen as rude but when a man is called a bitch it usually means he is seen as weak.

Sure, but there are tons of words that take on different connotations when applied to men versus women.

[Sol]

It all depends on context, you knuckleheads.

[John Dule]

It all depends on context, you knuckleheads.

Exactly. If Trump were to use one of these words, obviously it would reveal what we all already know about him-- he has no respect for women (or anyone, for that matter). But a random person using one of these words, without a preestablished pattern of sexist behavior, is not necessarily a misogynist.

[Florian Geyer]

None of the above

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Interestingly, my generically-center-left father is more uncomfortable with calling women bitches than is my "it came from the 70s!" second-wave feminist mother, so clearly there isn't a 1:1 correspondence between levels of misogyny and levels of comfort with some of these words.

I do think that all of these words can very easily be applied to women in sexist ways, but that doesn't mean that every possible usage of them is sexist. You have to look at the whole speech act the word is being used to perform rather than just assuming that every instance of it communicates the same things about the speaker's political or moral opinions.

[Ferguson97]

Interestingly, my generically-center-left father is more uncomfortable with calling women bitches than is my "it came from the 70s!" second-wave feminist mother, so clearly there isn't a 1:1 correspondence between levels of misogyny and levels of comfort with some of these words.

I think you’re overthinking it, your dad is uncomfortable saying it because he’s a man and it would be sexist if he said it, and your mother is a woman so it’s fine for her to say it.

[Samof94]

The one context I feel comfortable using that word is talking to vets and dog breeders.

[John Dule]

Interestingly, my generically-center-left father is more uncomfortable with calling women bitches than is my "it came from the 70s!" second-wave feminist mother, so clearly there isn't a 1:1 correspondence between levels of misogyny and levels of comfort with some of these words.

I think you’re overthinking it, your dad is uncomfortable saying it because he’s a man and it would be sexist if he said it, and your mother is a woman so it’s fine for her to say it.

The identity group of the user does not define the intent behind the word.

[Ferguson97]

Interestingly, my generically-center-left father is more uncomfortable with calling women bitches than is my "it came from the 70s!" second-wave feminist mother, so clearly there isn't a 1:1 correspondence between levels of misogyny and levels of comfort with some of these words.

I think you’re overthinking it, your dad is uncomfortable saying it because he’s a man and it would be sexist if he said it, and your mother is a woman so it’s fine for her to say it.

The identity group of the user does not define the intent behind the word.

Intent isn't really relevant for stuff like that.

[John Dule]

Interestingly, my generically-center-left father is more uncomfortable with calling women bitches than is my "it came from the 70s!" second-wave feminist mother, so clearly there isn't a 1:1 correspondence between levels of misogyny and levels of comfort with some of these words.

I think you’re overthinking it, your dad is uncomfortable saying it because he’s a man and it would be sexist if he said it, and your mother is a woman so it’s fine for her to say it.

The identity group of the user does not define the intent behind the word.

Intent isn't really relevant for stuff like that.

Intent is literally all that matters when determining whether or not a person is prejudiced.