About two weeks ago, I posted about expanding our vocabularies. Words that people misuse and abuse include "gay" and "retarded", in my opinion. Well, one word that I left off that list was "pussy" and I didn't mention it in that post because I thought it seemed to be going out of fashion a bit, luckily. To my dismay, however, I have repeatedly heard that word used since that post, so I am now adding it to the Do Not Use list.
We all know that most people are not referring to a cat with the word "pussy". Instead, they are referring to a woman's genitals, which in turn they are using for something weak or disgusting or ridiculous. "Don't be a pussy," I hear people say, or "He's such a pussy, that wimp." Why does a woman and her body stand for something negative? Why not reclaim it as a positive word (or not use it at all)?
So I'll be a pussy and say we need to seriously consider and improve our use of language.
--Curly
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i wonder how that word went from mean cat to the other term?
I was at the house of some friends last night, basically watching the boys play the new Grand Theft Auto game. I spent the whole time either screaming because it was so violent, or because of the way the male characters, but way of captions, 'spoke' about women. In one 'conversation' women were referred to just as 'pussy', and one of the guys was talking about not being interested in 'taken pussy', to mean other men's girlfriends. I'm not really involved in gaming in any way at all so I don't know if it's generally accepted that games like that usually use sexist language like that. I'm not naive enough to expect there to be no swearing, but it was genuinely shocking how awfully women were spoken about by these characters. The worst thing, really, were the reaction of the guys in the room, one was very vocal about the fact that he didn't like this particular character because of the way he spoke and behaved, but the others, genuinely two of the nicest guys I've met at Uni, were pretty unbothered by it, which was horrible, really.
-- Kirsty
Well, Teefus, here is what the bible, er, I mean, the Oxford English Dictionary says about pussy noun and adjective:
A. n.
1. a. Chiefly colloq. A girl or woman exhibiting characteristics associated with a cat, esp. sweetness or amiability. Freq. used as a pet name or as a term of endearment. Cf. PUSS n.1 3, PUSSYCAT n. 3.
In later use merging with sense A. 3c.
b. slang (chiefly N. Amer.). A sweet or effeminate male; (in later use chiefly) a weakling, a coward, a sissy. Also: a male homosexual.
In quot. 1904: a man likened to a house-cat; a dependent or ‘domesticated’ man.
2. a. nursery and colloq. A cat. Freq. used as a proper or pet name.
Also used occas. as a call to attract a cat's attention (cf. PUSS n.1 1).
In quot. 1873 (humorous): a tiger (cf. PUSS n.1 2).
b. A hare (freq. used as a proper or pet name). Also (Austral.): a rabbit. Cf. PUSS n.1 2. Now rare.
3. coarse slang.
a. The female genitals; the vulva or vagina.
to eat pussy: to perform cunnilingus (cf. EAT v.).
b. Sexual intercourse with a woman.
In some quots. overlapping with sense A. 3c.
c. A woman, or women collectively, regarded as a source of sexual intercourse. Cf. sense A. 1.
d. In male homosexual usage: the anus (or occas. mouth) of a man, as an object of sexual penetration. Also (chiefly Prison slang): a man or boy viewed in this way (cf. sense A. 3c).
4. Pussy Wants a (also the) Corner n. U.S. (now rare) = Puss in the corner n. at PUSS n.1 5.
5. a. nursery and colloq. Something soft and furry; esp. a willow catkin. Cf. PUSSY WILLOW n.
b. Criminals' slang. A fur garment.
B. adj.2 colloq. and slang. Exhibiting characteristics associated with a cat; cat-like. Also (in later use chiefly): weak, cowardly (cf. sense A. 1b).
Now, based on those definitions, I think we can start to understand a few things:
Cats (i.e. pussies) are sweet, amiable, weak, and cowardly.
What a coincidence -- women too are sweet, amiable, weak, and cowardly. Thus, women are pussies.
Wait, there's more!
Gay men are often linked to women. After all, homosexuals must be weak and cowardly. Therefore, gays are also pussies.
And now we are getting to the point -- anything bad or weak is like a woman or like a gay (effeminate) man. Thus, pussy has taken on this negative meaning.
--Curly
Now, just to save this post from being totally depressing, let me pick three of my favorite pussy compounds from the OED:
pussy-hoisting n. Criminals' slang (now rare) the action of stealing fur garments.
pussy mob n. Criminals' slang (now rare) a gang of fur thieves.
pussy power n. U.S. power exercised by women; spec. a woman's use of her sexual allure or femininity in order to exert influence over men (freq. used as a feminist slogan).
Let's show some pussy power and redefine those first two. A group of strong, intelligent women can be a pussy mob. And as for pussy-hoisting, well, I better leave that one unsaid. I wonder if the original definition refers to the theft of merkins (i.e. pussy wigs).
--Curly, punch-drunk with pussies
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