General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSince its Womens Week, can we get rid of the perjorative "douchebag"?
It's totally misogynistic.
VermontKevin
(1,473 posts)It's a symbol of men telling women how to care for what does not need to be cared for in that manner.
Still remember when I was young women were advised to douche regularly for feminine hygiene.
Then someone told me that if you stink that bad you have a real problem and should go see a doctor.
Douchebags are ridiculous archaic items.
VermontKevin
(1,473 posts)dhol82
(9,353 posts)milestogo
(16,829 posts)Using "douchebag" to insult a man has the byproduct of implying that women's bodies are rank and disgusting.
SunSeeker
(51,571 posts)If anything, it implies what comes out of men's bodies is disgusting, since that is what a woman douches to get rid of.
VermontKevin
(1,473 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,208 posts).
.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Someone said hysterical could not be used.
Douchebag is a word I dont think Ive ever used. It simply never had any appeal to me as a word.
Caliman73
(11,738 posts)Hysterical is tied to women's ovaries or uterus, which medical professionals believed made women act crazy and as such, society used to keep women from fully participating in society.
I could drop douchebag as an insult without a problem.
Shrike47
(6,913 posts)Sneederbunk
(14,291 posts)Irish_Dem
(47,131 posts)Sigh.
Lil Missy
(17,865 posts)pintobean
(18,101 posts)since a certain member stopped posting.
But, banning words is never a good idea.
crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)I also hear 'toolbag' a lot (same meaning).
I'm in my 30s and my social circle is people in their 20s and 30s.
ProfessorGAC
(65,069 posts)Toolbag is not the same meaning at all. Referring to a guy as a "tool" is the same as calling him a "dick". The "tool" reference is referring to a male anatomy part. Your conflating two different etymologies.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)and I see it routinely. It makes me cringe.
hlthe2b
(102,292 posts)riverwalker
(8,694 posts)Why F... You was derogatory, if sex is a good thing, why do we sling it like a curse.?
RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)TheFrenchRazor
(2,116 posts)makes them "insults," according to more than a few people, including some women. misogyny is so ubiquitous that people don't see it just like a fish doesn't see the water.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)Since most of DU is not chronologically adolescent - hopefully it will fade out.
temporary311
(955 posts)doesn't always line up with mental age.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Thats why I phrased it that way.
Kirk Lover
(3,608 posts)customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)I have a whole lot more ways to describe Repukes than something that offends women.
superpatriotman
(6,249 posts)I am an adult who is responsible and accountable for the words I choose to use.
On edit: happy Women's Week!
milestogo
(16,829 posts)RhodeIslandOne
(5,042 posts)Did you take a poll?
milestogo
(16,829 posts)That's what we're talking about here. Its inherently offensive.
KentuckyWoman
(6,685 posts)granted I may be the lone female on the entire planet who doesn't get all worked up over certain words in and of themselves.
But then again, while I RARELY use disrespectful language either. I do, but am fairly particular about where I aim it.
Aiming "douchbag" in certain circumstances at certain individuals does not offend me in the least.
3catwoman3
(24,006 posts)...bitch. I primarily use them only when talking to myself.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I dont think this kind of censorship is a good idea.
Igel
(35,320 posts)"seek and ye shall find" is appropriate here.
Lots of words that are terms of abuse or otherwise non-formal in nature go back to sex. Some times straight, sometimes gay, but back to sex.
"That blows."
"That sucks."
Even "fuck" was probably originally a kind of threat directed either at the opponent's masculinity or at the virtue of his mother.
(Some, of course, just goes back to disgusting stuff. But usually bodily ejecta.)
Remove such things, now rather removed from their original referents, from the English scatological lexicon and it would be a thin tome, indeed.
It's like insisting on the etymological meaning of "hysterical" as the "true meaning". Etymology fallacy, of course. Or is there really sexual innuendo in the word "fallacy" that means we should cut that word off from our lexicon? (Oh. Wait. Many already have.)
pintobean
(18,101 posts)Hell, you haven't even gotten one rec in support of your attempt at censorship.
milestogo
(16,829 posts)Chasstev365
(5,191 posts)It's appropriate!
Igel
(35,320 posts)Or perhaps birth defects.
DBoon
(22,366 posts)nt
GusBob
(7,286 posts)He called me that once a week. Others everyday
You're wasting your time
Corvo Bianco
(1,148 posts)Nobody is taking the word douchebag away from me. How am I supposed to warm my sister that guy's a total douchebag?!
milestogo
(16,829 posts)Corvo Bianco
(1,148 posts)BannonsLiver
(16,396 posts)HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts). . . pick your baaa-ttles . . .
anneboleyn
(5,611 posts)SunSeeker
(51,571 posts)Last edited Wed Nov 22, 2017, 02:53 AM - Edit history (2)
The swill from a bag of douche perfectly describes Donald Trump.
I don't see the misogyny. It is an insult aimed at a man, not a woman. What you tend to douche out are, um, deposits left by men. To call a man a douchebag (and I have only heard men called douchebags, not women) is to state that he is nothing more than discarded jizz. Much like Santorum.
JI7
(89,252 posts)nobody is thinking of women or anything female related when they see this
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,026 posts)The French word for shower is douche.
lapucelle
(18,270 posts)Is there anyone here who has ever referred to a woman as a douchebag?
lapucelle
(18,270 posts)I was, however, reminded that November 19 was International Men's Day.
http://www.internationalmensday.com/
Vinca
(50,278 posts)lillypaddle
(9,580 posts)gimme a break.