This Language Has Teeth
- Staunch
- Apr 5, 2018
- 1 min read
by HELENA FOX
It is 2015.
I am tidying my room to a gentle soundtrack – BBC Radio iPlayer.
‘The Misogyny Book Club’, Episode 2.
“There was a study of the English language…”
So far, so Radio 4.
And then –
“…they tried to count up the number of words that are
female-reference that can be used as insults
and they stopped counting something short of
a thousand.
And you can count the words that are
male-reference that are used as insults
on one hand and
you’ll have fingers left over.”
A kick in the gut and a sickness rises in my stomach.
Think about it.
In slicing the air with biting words and painting it red with
SON OF A BITCH
I don’t wound a man, I wound his mother.
When rancorous letters pour from my mouth
I am attacking womankind.
skank slut whore bitch pussy hag cunt
Big Girl’s Blouse.
skank slut whore bitch pussy hag cunt
and super-glue connotations, where
spinster is worst case scenario and
bachelor is aspirational and
witches are to be burned at the stake and
wizards are to be venerated and
women’s rugby is an afterthought and
men’s rugby is just rugby and
effeminate is pejorative and
masculine is applauded and
goddesses are pure sex and
gods are pure power and
women are bossy and
men are assertive and
eve was wicked and
adam was naïve and
woman is wrong and
man is right and
No more.
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