We need to stop calling women on this campus “Bobkittens.” We call the student body as a whole, “Bobcats” but then to turn around and say “Bobkittens” when it’s only female students. This is an example of how we as a society infantilize women. The use of language to demean women is nothing new.
Jessica Ensley is a senior studying journalism. Email her at je726810@ohio.edu.
Editor’s Note: This column contains explicit language.
We need to stop calling women on this campus “Bobkittens.” We call the student body as a whole, “Bobcats” but then to turn around and say “Bobkittens” when it’s only female students. This is an example of how we as a society infantilize women. The use of language to demean women is nothing new.
The language we use is powerful. We consistently use language to diminish women and assert men as the dominate sex. For instance, we use “mankind” to describe every human. We use “guys” to address a room full of people even if everyone in the room is female. We address men as “men” or “guys” but women as “girls,” which is another way we label women as children.
Even the word “woman” contains the word “man” within it and “female” contains the word “male.” People take these words as just the norm, but if you address a room as “ladies” or “girls” and there is even one male there, they will become insulted. Why? Because it is an insult to be a woman.
We have so many words that are used to be a derogatory term for women such as: pussy, bitch, gold digger, c--t, whore, skank, slut, tease, drama queen. For men, we have only the words “dick” and “prick.” The most insulting thing you can call a man is pussy, bitch, etc. The most insulting thing you can call a woman is pussy, bitch, etc. The lowest a man can become is a woman and the lowest a woman can be is herself.
When people call their friends bitches, what they are really saying is that person is being a woman. We, as a society, need to stop using being female as the baseline for an insult.
Stop saying someone “throws like a girl,” because Mo’ne Davis is throwing like a girl and she’s kicking all the other boys’ asses in Little League Baseball. Stop saying someone is a whore because there are 20.9 million people being sold in the forced sex labor and 98 percent of them are females, according to EqualityNow. Stop calling women teases because that is suggesting it is our fault if we get assaulted and lets the assaulter off the hook. Stop calling women sluts because it perpetuates a society that lets people think they have a right to control a woman’s sex life.
I have personally chosen to stop using female derogatory words. Other feminists have chosen the tactic of taking the words and using them as labels to lessen their power. One thing is clear though: using these words as an insult only helps perpetuate a society that doesn’t care for or respect women.
Jessica Ensley is a senior studying journalism. Email her at je726810@ohio.edu
