(no subject)

[prog]

You know, I'm actually rather uncomfortable with the current popular usage among the Daily Show-watching set of using "[has] balls" and "[is a] pussy" as slang for possessing admirable bravado and contemptible cowardliness or passivity, respectively.

Since the people employing the phrase are the furthest thing from ripsnorting redstaters, I suppose that there's a sense of ironic fun to be had by stepping briefly into George Liquor's shoes for a moment, passing an indictment as one who believes that men primarily validate themselves by going in there and changing the world, and women do it by quietly submitting to authority.

It's a little shocking to hear it coming from you, and so we all laugh. But when I hear you say it over and over again, I do start to wonder.

Comments

[aspartaimee.livejournal.com]

i think someone commented on this before, but i think the language is designed to get a laugh, like here's a "news" program that is faux serious and they are commenting on some serious issues but look he said "pussy!" but the point you make is valid, really. it's leftover language originally designed to differentiate men from the boys by equating one with the "weaker" sex.

i confess to saying pussy from time to time to indicate my disdain for actions or behavior i deem weak, although on the flip side i now prefer "grow a pair." i also say retarded for things that strike me as stupid. these are definitely potentially offensive to many people. i have somehow made peace with that.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Oh boy I say offensive-to-different-people things all the time. I condone this behavior. MORE PLEASE

It's just the contrast and repetition of these two terms have irritated me lately. (Though maybe i perceive that I am hearing them more often than I actually am... there is a name for this psycholinguistic phenomenon but I am too lazy to look for it now.)