I think some people are cunts and I don't think I, or anyone, should be called sexist for utilizing those words in appropriate circumstances. However, I don't want them to be overused and lose their power. So everyone that uses them inappropriately should be hanged on the spot.
I've been calling my brother a cunt a lot lately. He's turned into a quite a little jock idiot in the past couple years.
"Jock idiot" sounds like a stereotype primarily aimed at males, while "cunt" is a vulgar term for the female anatomy. Can you explain why "cunt" is the appropriate pejorative, here? Does your view of the definition of "cunt" differ from its colloquial meaning, which I've always interpreted to be, "Someone who is the very worst possible sort of woman?"
In the UK 'cunt' is used against men more frequently than against women. Calling a woman a cunt is somehow more rude, but it is a general word for a terrible person. There is no gender barrier for its usage. Furthermore, 'cunt' is often used in a friendly manner here. I call my male friends 'cunt' all the time.
Well, you see, this is the thing about words. The 'definition' of cunt is that it is a vulgar term for the female anatomy, but definitions are static and really don't tell us an awful lot about actual use of words. When I call someone a "cunt", I basically mean that they are a bad person. And even if the word has sexist connotations, I am only saying that they are a bad person, not "they are a bad person, and I use the female genitalia as an analogy for their badness."
I think my opinion of cunt changed a lot when I lived in Australia. Rather than being a derogatory hate word for women, it is used more often between friends, especially in a pub environment. As of late, my brother has been making some immature, ignorant comments about general life circumstances and I suppose my use of the word cunt is a comeback of sorts to those comments that are, at times, so ridiculous that they don't merit argument. I suppose it is a way to try to get him to realize that he is saying stupid things without putting too much effort in.
Actually, here in Ireland "cunt" seems to be applicable to everyone regardless of gender. "Nigger" isn't so common, but then there aren't many black people in Ireland.
I really fell in love with the word cunt in Australia. It's used there pretty frequently and without hate. As a word I think it is pretty close to perfect. The combination of letters is just so matter-of-fact, straight to the point and strong.
As they say, in Australia you call cunts "mate" and your mates "cunt". When it comes to these sorts of slurs my own usage is a bit different. I often call my friends gay, or nigger, or cunt, but I'm playing on the fact that using them is taboo, which serves as my justification. I mean, I met a black man once. I shook his hand, and didn't even flinch. Edit: I just remembered that sarcasm isn't apparent on the Internet...
Nigger is a contextual word. When a white person uses it they are using a word who's purpose for most of the white world is to set Black people as less then other members of the human race. When Whites use it at my bar I generally kick them out or tell them that if they can't be civil they will be kicked out, the kick out is if they use it directly the warning is usually if they use it generally. There was White a gentleman at my bar who was being a total asshole one night. He was commonly a belligerent asshole, but rarely to the point of getting kicked out. After he left the bar two men kicked the living shit out of him. He did to some extent have a royal ass beating coming he was an offensive asshole. When he stumbled back into the bar covered in blood he said that some niggers jumped him. The next day when he came in to gather evidence he said that he got his ass beat by some niggers. Basically the whole staff thought that he was a classless piece of shit and rather then help along the investigation we all clammed up. The real selling point in our decision to not help this guy discover his attackers was his use of the word 'nigger' to describe his attackers. Who ever goes around slinging words like nigger shouldn't be surprised to get a beat down. If I were you I would be very reluctant to use the word nigger at all in any company, many people will write you off as a racist piece of shit. I would like to hear what you think a nigger is and how you divorce it from it's origins and contest to use it in a manner that doesn't condemn a race of man. That being said there are some people like the 'The Last Poets' or blacks in general who have licence to use the word. Black people in the U.S. have a long history of reappropriating words that are used in a derogatory way against them and repurposing them, but Whites don't' really get the privileged of using them. I don't use the word with my black friends or around them. The Last Poets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qW3F48s1fQ
Close, but not quite. Our white ancestors are mostly responsible for the socioeconomic classes that we have today. The connection between certain people's behavior and their socioeconomic class is much looser. I grew up in an area comprised mostly of poor to lower-middle class blacks and yes, many of them (a majority) fit into the category described by insomniasexx but there were also many who did not.
This problem makes me think of Irish gypsies and the discrimination they have to deal with. Some people suggest that "we'll stop calling them knackers when they stop acting like knackers."
The word cunt has never been used to designate an entire group of people as a subclass of human. Like cgod explained, no group of shifty looking pms-riddled women is going to beat me senseless at the mere mention of the word. I've also have never found the word cunt offensive in a sexist way, and neither does anyone I know.
I do, usually because it's directed at me in a way to emphasize that the person telling me it thinks that I'm mouthy, stuck-up, and really only valuable for what my vagina has to offer. Hate that word. Ruins my day.