Okay, here's a question that will be called flamebait, but I am honestly interested in the response:

People here are comparing calling Obama a "dick" with calling Ingraham a "slut." But are they really the same?

"Slut" is a sexist term and an attack against all women. Are we now saying that using the word "dick" equals being sexist against men and is just as bad?

Or are we just protecting the reputation of our leader?

For the record, I personally do think "dick" is sexist just like "slut." But after reading thousands of posts here, I suspect a lot of DUers wouldn't agree, because woman have traditionally been the victims of sexism and lack the power of men. Nobody here would have had seen sexism if anyone called Bush a dick, and I think most would have considered the term merited.

So is calling Obama a dick just like calling any woman a slut? Or do you just not want the President insulted in crude terms in our media?

Should calling a President a dick be held at the same level of outrage as calling a woman a slut?

but a reporter saying that about a political leader, especially the president, makes one wonder about impartiality.

I thought he was a commentator and not an anchor.

It's degrading.

So this is about degrading the public discourse.

"Slut" alludes to the (likely irrelevant) sexual behavior of a person, usually a woman.

"Dick" is the use of sexual/anatomical vocabulary, considered vulgar, to describe especially repugnant behavior, usually from a man. Not necessarily behavior of a sexual nature.

These are not equivalent terms, although both are vulgar and offensive.

In my opinion, "slut" is the worse pejorative, because it drags a person's sexual history into a discussion ostensibly NOT about sex.

That makes sense.

The person who resorts to using such words not only lowers the discourse, but tacitly admits that their own ideas have given out. (Apologies to Lao Tzu, or Confucius, or whoever it was who said it before me).

Halperin's choice of descriptor doesn't offend me. It was the content of his comment that offended me. Calling out Republicans for their greedy, grabby, whiny, stubborn, selfish behavior is a good thing and Mr. Halperin shows where his allegiances lie when he sides with the GOP.

"Slut" implies a moral lapse -- i.e., virtual or literal prostitution. "Dick" just means a person is being majorly unpleasant -- i.e., a serious jerk, leading with his gonads instead of his brain, as it were. I think the word "slut" has been tossed around casually against women, when in fact it is a demeaning and harmful term. Perhaps an argument can be made that "dick" is also a harmful term, but it doesn't imply any moral laxity on the part of the person so named.

that is a brilliant explanation. Thank you.

since it doesn't signify any type of societal discrimination against men.

As far as "slut" goes, I don't believe there's an equivalent concept for males. Men who have sex easily and frequently are not thought of as shamed in the way implied by "slut."

I wish I could reword my OP now, because it is very poorly expressed...but that wouldn't be fair to everyone who has already responded.

I think you are absolutely right.

A man who has many/multiple sex partners is called a stud or a player, or some such. It's a positive term, you see. Yeah, we as a society are still pretty effed up.

It's when you call a man a slut that things get inverted, and wicked.

Among insults Halperin might have used, "dick" is among the mildest. When I turned on Morning Jerk this morning, they were doing their extended apology about this. My wife and I were speculating about what might have been said. "Dick" was not in the mix of possibilities. I voted for "fucking asshole."

I was very surprised to hear what the offensive expression actually was. Yes, it was insulting. Yes, he shouldn't have said it. Yes, it's untrue. But, really, it's not that potent an insult. It's really not.

Not mere slang.
Not a mere derogatory word.

It is, indeed, a word that is NOT SPOKEN ON NETWORK TELEVISION.

Do you have a clue now?

Daily, though, I see President Obama called a traitor, a closet Republican, a homophobe, a coward, a warmonger, and other insults right here on Democratic Underground. Some of the posts that do that are deleted, but most are left to stand. You see my dilemma with the uproar over this?

Yes, Halperin was wrong to say what he said. No question about it. Weighed in the balance of other things people call President Obama, it's a relatively minor insult.

To my knowledge, "slut" has always been denigrating.

I did not know that.

it is used to convey the same thing about the individual in question.

But calling the President such a name is 100 times more offensive than calling a radio host/entertainer such a name.

the terms bitch and dick imply the same personality traits about the person they're referring to.

The "C-word" (which I admit to using occasionally about really, really awful people) could be used to describe a female persona.

Although I think gender is irrelevant. A man can be a slut; a woman can be a dick.

Let's just use adult words, shall we?

I, too, will reiterate:

You actually need to ask? It's a matter of RESPECT. Such vulgarity has NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE on TV,
about ANYONE, let alone the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The term is NOT ALLOWED in its obviously vulgar usage. (If you do not know it is a vulgarism and not simply "slang,", I'm bereft of further argument.)

Then I added it to the other thread as a courtesy, because it was the other thread that made me think of the question.

I agree that it's vulgar and disrespectful. It was the comparison with Ingraham's case that made me ask the question, because when you compare the two, many people will think that you are suggesting the reasons are the same.

sophisticated, freedom. well, here is our world of vulgar. we just dont like it when it is directed to one of our own. otherwise it is defended.

I will have to think about that, but I might agree with you.

Dick = jerk
Pussy = weak

Personally I don't have an objection to use of the words dick or pussy, though I don't use those words.

TO me they should both be sexist terms or both be allowed.

I tend not to be bothered by this stuff, so I would rather see people be allowed to call others dicks and sluts without the outrage.

... you can bet the clown that said that would have been waterboarded by now.

My more general opinion is that words are just words - you can call me whatever you want to call me - it's a reflection on you, not me.

If I were to call a woman a slut I would really mean she sleeps around without regard for the so's involved. I could call women dicks and men sluts because the words are not sexist to me they would be used as a descriptor and have nothing to do with the gender of the person. With that said and being PC I would never use those wordsat least no here.

be a better analogy. When I hear someone called a slut, it usually is in a sexual context (and can be used for both males and females--which then, IMO, it becomes sexist for both sexes). However, when I hear or call someone a dick or a bitch I am referring to their attitude, not their sexuality.

he wouldn't ordinarily call someone else, then yes...it's whatever "ism" it is.

And, IMO anyway, calling a man a "dick" (or any other word referring to a man's privates) is the equivalent of calling a woman a "c**t".

but I'm just a crude muthafucka---

Reminds me of some lyrics from the ride in--


Eminem - WTP

Now whether you're black, white or purple
If you're misunderstood
But you don't give a fuck
You weren't doin' shit that you should
Long as you know you're up to evil
And you're no damn good
Get on the floor, man, and rep your 'hood

Now honey, don't let them pricks trip
We should make a quick dip
And go do some donuts in the hospital parkin' lot
Cuz girl I got a sick whip
Kick the back window outta my Gremlin
Put two milk crates in the trunk
Rip out the stick shift and
Make a five seater
I'll be damned if I feed a chick
It ain't like me to split a piece 'a dry pita
I'll be the S-L to the I-M S-H-A-D-Y
And I don't need a tank top to be a wife beater

I'll rip a tree out the ground
And flip it upside down
'Fore I turn over a new leaf, clown
I'll tell ya now
I'm so raw I still need to un-thaw
You feel me, yall?
I shut the club down like Drake in the mall!

But baby, a body like that's against the law
You the baddest little chain with the blades I ever saw
Cold slaw containers, empty straw wrappers and all
You got more junk in your trunk than I do in my car
Now get up!

looks and lack of intellectualism. I don't remember anyone calling him a dick.