An Internet Feminist's Manifesta on Language

A resource for online feminists

Whereas words and language have power to create meaning and ideas which, in turn, have power to create words and language;

Whereas each individual on this planet has the right to create their own identity within the larger group;

Whereas each individual's power within a group contributes to the power of the group which, in turn, contributes to the power of the individual;

And

Whereas all things female/feminine have been defined and codified throughout history as "other," lesser, weaker, "sinful," dangerous, repulsive, dirty, evil, petty, unworthy, pathological;

And

Whereas the leftist/progressive/liberal/Democratic ideals purport to be inclusive, diverse, welcoming, all-encompassing and empowering;

Whereas the group can only be as strong as its weakest member;

Whereas we find the following words, phrases, language and ideas with their subsequent subtext, to be antithetical to and destructive of leftist/progressive/liberal/Democratic ideals;

Therefore

We, encourage our fellow netizens to cease the use of and to cultivate their knowledge of the offensive, repressive, and dis-empowering nature of sexist, abusive, oppressive, regressive and destructive language, words, phrases and ideas; such as defined in the categories below:


A. Derogatory Language

1. "Cat fight" - usually used to describe passionate debate or argument between 2 or more women; used to degrade the import of the discussion as being unworthy of serious thought or concern. (sexist: because it endorses the destructive and false idea that all things female are petty)

2. "Bitch" - the context and tone in which it is used and to what purpose, can be extremely negative and offensive. That it may now be used to denigrate males does not attenuate the fact and does in fact, illuminate that when it is used against males it is precisely because of its anti-female associated meanings that it is considered such a powerful insult. (associated phrases include "bitch slap," "make someone his/her/their bitch," etc.) (sexist: because it endorses the destructive and false idea all things female are evil, bad, mean, etc.)

3. "Whore" - see "bitch" and include the added double standard applied to women and our sexuality in which our sexuality equates with our inherent character and that character is deemed evil, dirty, immoral, etc. That it may now be used to denigrate males does not attenuate the fact and does in fact, illuminate that when it is used against males it is precisely because of its anti-female associated meanings that it is considered such a powerful insult. (associated phrases include "media whore," "whoring for fill in the name.") (sexist: because it endorses the destructive and false idea all things female are evil, bad, mean, etc.)

4. "Slut" - see "bitch" and "whore." other examples of anti-female epithets in this vein include: "Bi-Yach," "Ho," "skank" and "douche bag." That they may now be used to denigrate males does not attenuate the fact and does in fact, illuminate that when they are used against males it is precisely because of their anti-female associated meanings that they considered such a powerful insults. (sexist: because it endorses the destructive and false idea all things female are evil, bad, mean, etc.)

5."Pussy" - equates anything less than a sociologically defined masculinity as weak therefore bad, lesser, unworthy, not tough enough, in short, not "male" enough. Implies that only "masculine" traits are desired or the norm. Accepts the idea that to ascribe anything woman/female-like to a male is an insult. (sexist: because it endorses the destructive and false idea all things female are evil, bad, dirty, etc.)

6. "Sissy" - see "Pussy" also includes such "insults" as "cry/throw/hit like a girl" (sexist: because it endorses the destructive and false idea all things female are evil, bad, dirty, etc.)

7. "Cunt" - derogatory slang for woman's genitalia usually used as an insult. Objectifies not only individual women, but also women as a class, by reducing them to their body parts. Implies that women's genitalia are somehow evil, dirty, immoral, etc. (sexist: because it endorses the destructive and false idea all things female are evil, bad, dirty, etc.)


B. Exploiting Rape to Vilify Women

1. "She asked for it" - not always stated outright, frequently implied. All statements place responsibility for the actions of a rapist on the shoulders of the women/girls who men rape. (see G. The Bandwagon Argument for why this section says specifically "men rape women.")

• 1.a. "she shouldn't have gotten drunk/high," - perpetuates the destructive and false idea that men are incapable of controlling their "monstrous sexual appetites" and will "fuck anything" (denying the humanity of women who men rape) and also makes an assertion that men have no responsibility nor will take responsibility for their own "monstrous sexual appetites."


• 1.b. "she was dressed like a ho/skank/whore/slut, etc." - perpetuates the destructive and false idea that men are incapable of controlling their "monstrous sexual appetites" and holds women responsible for controlling men's "monstrous sexual appetites" even though men, apparently, can't.


• 1.c. "she shouldn't have been there in the first place," or its inverse, "what was she doing there in the first place?" - perpetuates the illusion that all rape is "stranger rape," and since men are incapable of controlling their "monstrous sexual appetites," women "should" live their lives avoiding the places in which our lives take place; such as, the privacy of our own homes; at a party with friends whom we trust; the parking lot at the grocery store or work or a club or...; the playground with the kids; walking to and from work, school, the bus, the train; riding the bus or train or driving in our car; camping; family outings or family gatherings; or...anyplace that is not inside the illusionary safety of our homes.


• 1.d. "Women/girls need to take responsibility for their safety," - perpetuates the destructive and false idea that women have the sole responsibility to control men's "monstrous sexual appetites" and that we forget that responsibility at our peril


• 1.e. "If she had been smart..." or its inverse "If she hadn't been so stupid..." - perpetuates the destructive and false idea that men rape only "stupid/slutty/whorish" women and that all women who men rape are "stupid/slutty/whorish."

2. "Boys will be boys" - perpetuates the destructive and false idea that men begin to lose control over their "monstrous sexual appetites" at or near puberty and that they have no responsibility to learn such control.

3. "Date rape isn't as bad as 'violent rape'" - not always stated outright, frequently implied. Perpetuates the destructive and false idea that rape is just sex that got a "little out of hand." Denies and obfuscates the violently emotional toll rape has on women/girls regardless of presence or absence of physical evidence. Implies that women's emotional health is less important than not only her physical health, but in the "grand scheme of things."

4. "She's lying" or its inverse "the alleged rapist is innocent until proven guilty (implies "she's lying")" - perpetuates the assumption that sensational accusations of "false reports" of rape that appear in the corporate media, a) are false rather then "unprovable" in "a court of law," b) are indicative of the actual ratio of false to "provable" reports of rape, c) that the ratio is accurate in the number of "false" accusations to actual number of rapes d) that all acts of rape are reported and provable in a court of law and e) "proof" that women are a bunch of "gold-digging, money grubbing, liars". Further insults women by denying our credibility on a board whose members will "judge, try and 'hang'" a republican or a pedophile with never a though of "innocent until proven guilty" and whose members protest loudly and vociferously that the "media cannot be trusted!" Perpetuates the idea, that when a woman files a charge of rape, she is "guilty until proven raped."

5. Rape as "comedy" material; a source of jokes and amusement of the "it'll never happen (hasn't happened) to me so it's not important," and the "if it's inevitable, just lay back and enjoy it" crowds - used to deny the violent emotional and/or physical impact rape has on a girl's/woman's "sense of Self" and her, forever changed, place in the world. Denies and obfuscates that When a man rapes a woman or girl, he has not perpetrated just one violent act against one woman. Rape can irreparably change the entire course of a woman's life and those whose lives intersect hers. Thereby illuminating the "attraction" of using rape as a weapon of war. Rape is NOT funny.

(sexist, abusive, destructive: because the statements above remove all responsibility from rapists.)


C. Language Used to Glorify a Perverted and Anti-survival Form of "Masculinity"

1. "He's got balls!" - validates the pervasive and destructive and false idea that only those with the proper physiological equipment are capable of showing great strength or power and frequently used to promote an ideal in which, since women have no balls women are therefore handicapped in a world which values strength and power. Also validates and perpetuates the idea that "might makes right," in and of itself an anti-survival idea. Can also be used in a "positive" (destructive but favorable) manner, such as "She's got balls!" (sexist: because it it endorses the destructive and false idea that all things feminine are weak and pathological; destructive: because it endorses and perpetuates a perverted and anti-survival form of hyper-"masculinity.")

2. "Be a man!" - usually used in discussions in which a poster has questioned a perverted or anti-survival form of "masculinity" and implies that the poster is in some way weak or less than and therefore to be disregarded, ridiculed, or ignored. Can also be used in a "positive" (destructive but favorable) manner, such as "She's the man!" (sexist: because it it endorses the destructive and false idea that all things feminine are weak and pathological; destructive: because it endorses and perpetuates a perverted and anti-survival form of hyper-"masculinity.")


D. Objectification

1. Comments about women's appearance/dress - used as a weapon of attack against any woman with whom the poster has a difference of opinion. Used to attack the messenger rather than debating the message. Used to obfuscate the merit (or lack thereof) of the words, ideas, actions or contributions to society made by the object of such remarks. Objectifies not only individual women, but also women as a class, by reducing them to their body parts. Implies that said body parts are the standard by which women are measured. Sometimes referred to as the "fuckability quotient." (Examples include: "I'd do her," "Check out insert description of female body part," "She's hot!" "She's ugly (or some other adjective to define less-than-beautiful)", "Progressive women are hotter than conservative women (or some variation thereof)," "Can you believe she'd wear something like that?" "She dresses like a whore/slut/skank/etc." "She's had a boob job." "What a cow!") (sexist: because it objectifies women and it assumes and validates the idea that women are permanently on a runway to be constantly critiqued as sexual objects, no matter what context they are acting in; abusive: because it attempts to silence the message and the messenger.)

• 1.a. "She slept her way to the top" - used to promote the idea that women are incapable of succeeding without using their bodies and sex. Denies that the targeted woman is intelligent, talented or skillful in anything other than the "womanly arts" of seduction and/or sex. That it may now be used to denigrate males does not attenuate the fact and does in fact, illuminate that when it is used against males it is precisely because of its anti-female associated meanings that it is considered such a powerful insult.(the same stereotype when used in the context of marriage is "gold digger" and "trophy wife.")

E. Gender Identity Attacks

1. "Mann Coulter" – the implications of this phrase are that:

• 1.a. - because a woman looks a certain way, i.e., not "feminine" enough, she is not a "real woman;"


• 1.a.1. - that there is something pathological about not being a "real woman;"


• 1.b. - that a person's personality and/or pathology is tied to their appearance and or sex/gender;


• 1.c. - that there is something pathological with a person if their physiology does not match their gender identification;


• 1.c.1. - and that subsequently there is something pathological about transgendered people;


• 1.d. - That there is something pathological about a man wanting to be a woman.

(sexist: because it it endorses the destructive and false idea that all things feminine are bad, evil, dirty, weak, pathological, etc.)


F. Pompous Negation of Critiques of the Systems of Patriarchy and Authoritarianism

1. "Can't you take a joke?" - usually used in response to an individual's concern that a comment or post was offensive or sexist; implies that the individual concerned does not have the right to express their concern or that their concern is in some manner petty (other forms include: "lighten up," "get over yourself," "get a life," "not this again," "oh, you're one of those feminazis/militant feminists/radical feminists," "word police," "PC Police," etc.) {special note: many women on this board hear these phrases with the word "bitch" implied, for example; "geez, bitch, can't you take a joke?" or "jesus, bitch, get over yourself" and so on.} (abusive: because the concerned individual is being denied their own perspective)

2. "Male bashing" - usually used in response to a post in which an individual had the audacity to criticize men/males/boys and/or their actions. A form of hyperbole and duplicitous rhetoric in which the accuser purposely muddles a critique of behaviors and symptoms of a system of patriarchy with a critique of all men as individuals because the original poster did not weaken their statement or argument by including confusing and muddying conditional adjectives and statements such as "some" men/males/boys or "I know that it's not all men/males/boys, but..." or "with all due respect to the men/males/boys on this board" and so on. (abusive: because it is used to derail the original content of the post, i.e., deny or obfuscate the OP's message.)


G. The Bandwagon Argument

1. "It happens to men, too" - used as a conditional to legitimize an act which is perpetrated by men against women in significantly higher numbers than than when "it happens to men, too." Frequently used to imply that feminists are uncaring or "selfish" or that a poster is denying what is a legitimate claim though it is not the topic of discussion. Used to dilute or derail the debate. An in-depth view of the insidious nature of this remark, see Why I Write Not of Men posted by White Bear at Bitch Ph.D..

2. "Woman do it, too" - used as a conditional to legitimize an act which is perpetrated by men against women in significantly higher numbers than than when "women do it, too." Frequently used to imply that feminists are uncaring or "selfish" or that a poster is denying what is a legitimate claim though it is not the topic of discussion. Used to dilute or derail the debate.

3. "I'm a humanist" - used to promote the idea that feminists and feminism are elitist, narrowly focused, or an exclusive club and that feminist ideals are nothing more than a selfish attempt by a few women and men to promote an agenda which will take rights for themselves at a cost to others' rights. Denies and obscures the comprehensive nature of feminism and the very existence of patriarchal oppression.

4. "All feminists are/believe/do/think fill in negative stereotype" - implies a form of "groupthink," or "hive mentality" within the feminist movement as though the women and men of the feminist movement are incapable of independent thought. Sometimes used to catapult anti-feminist propaganda or an anti-feminist writer as indicative of the "feminist" movement. {editor's note: Anyone who thinks "all feminists think alike" has obviously never been in a room with 2 or more feminists in their life.}

5. "Not all men do/think/act fill in the blank" - used when a woman or man has the "audacity" to make a declarative statement rather than placating the reader with conditional words such as "some," "not all, but" "with all due respect," and so on, when writing about traits, actions, ideals which have traditionally been associated with a perverted and anti-survival for of "masculinity." It is usually an attempt to deny the existence of patriarchal systems of domination and their horrible impact on women and men. (abusive: because it is used to divert and/or silence the message.)

• G.A. Jumping Off the Bandwagon


• "I'm not a feminist, but..." - usually followed by a list of women's rights for which many feminists, female and male, now and throughout history have fought, were imprisoned, have had their lives destroyed, and for which, some have died. Dishonors the long history of struggle from which we, women and men, have benefited. Usually used to distance herself from the myths that feminists are: humorless (F.1.), frigid (H.1.), manhating and/or angry (H.4.) or pathological (listed throughout). Corollaries include: "I'm a feminist, but I love/like porn/sex/men" (subtext: but not one of "those" feminists (H.1., H.2., H.4., G.4., F.2. and throughout), use by women of destructive and sexist language because "I'm not that sensitive," "It's just words," "I'm not like that," "It doesn't mean anything," "I've never taken it that way," etc. usually as an attempt to distance the poster from "those women" and to show how "unlike" "those women" the poster is. Validates the destructive idea that language has NO power. Validates the usage of destructive language since "women do it, too" (G.2.). Denies and dishonors the long history of struggle as mentioned above.

H. Anti-Feminist Propaganda

The intentional and the unintentional use of anti-feminist rhetoric used to "catapult the propaganda" that falsely portrays feminists and feminism in a negative, sometimes pathological, light. Many of the falsehoods listed below have been repeated so frequently for so long they have become "common knowledge;" though they have unfortunately become common, they are not knowledge as they are falsehoods created to discredit feminists and feminist ideals.

1. "Feminists want to outlaw porn" - usually used in a debate to define feminists as "frigid," anti-sex, "man haters," cold, sexually repressed and so on. It is also used on occasion to equate feminists with neo-con religious fundamentalists as an added insult. Will sometimes include an incomplete quote of Catherine MacKinnon's anti-pornography legislation. "1. "Pornography" means the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures and/or words" and does not include the rest of the line which states: "that also includes one or more of the following:" followed by a list of depictions of women in pornography with which many might actually agree. Click here for the full text of Mackinnon's definition of pornography within the anti-pornography legislation which she proposed.

2. "Feminists believe all sex is rape" - implies a form of "groupthink," or "hive mentality" within the feminist movement as though the women and men of the feminist movement are incapable of independent thought. "MacKinnon claims the first reference... surfaced in the October 1986 issue of Playboy. ..., the statement (which had previously been attached to feminist Andrea Dworkin) was made up by the pornography industry in an attempt to undermine her credibility. It became inextricably linked with MacKinnon's name after she began working with Dworkin in the early 1980s to write model anti-pornography laws. Full story.

3. "Womens libbers burned their bras" -

• 3.a. the use of the word "libbers," as was the case with the use of the word "suffragette" in its time, was devised by the media and women's rights opponents of the day, to ridicule and denigrate women who spoke out in an "uppity," "strident," "shrill" and "unlady-like" manner. "Dyke," "man-hater," "lesbian," "castrating bitch," "ice queen," and "dragon lady" are other examples of epithets which are used against feminists. {special note: most feminists today have healed their own homophobia and are no longer "cowed" by the use of "dyke," "lesbian," and *wink*wink*"Oh, you're one of those."}


• 3.b. "the bra burning incident" - "That's a myth. It was the time of draft-card burning, and some smart headline writer decided to call it a 'bra burning' because it sounded insulting to the then-new women's movement. We only threw a bra symbolically in a trash can." (emphasis added) Full story.

4. "Abortion clinic," "Abortion doctor" - the subtext of these phrases is that all women's health clinics and all OB/GYNs associated with them are "killing babies." They are "intellectually dishonest" and obfuscate the wide range of "non-controversial" services provided by many women's health care clinics and our doctors. "Saving babies" is then used to justify closing clinics which provide vital "women's" health services such as, contraception, emergency contraception, family planning advice, sex education, pap smears and/or other gynecological exams, breast exams, etc.

5. "Feminists are 'manhaters'" or its corollary, "Feminists are 'angry'" and the placating versions "I don't hate men, but..," "I love men, but..." - used to imply that if the poster in question, would only "learn to love men," read that as "get laid" or "get a man," rather than "hating men" or "being angry" read that as "instead of being a frigid bitch," the poster would "be cured of her pathology," read that as "remember her 'place' as chattel." Used as a tactic to imply the poster is pathological because she is "angry" or because she "hates men." The men and women who accuse a poster of "hating men" because the poster has criticized or commented on a sexist or abusive post, could perhaps put their defensive outrage in perspective by reading any version of the S.C.U.M. Manifesto to see what angry, manhating looks like. Its author, Valerie Solanas, took her angry, manhating to its logical and extreme conclusion as depicted in I Shot Andy Warhol.