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There is a *huge* difference between expressing smugness towards a rival sports team, and calling a Senator, and presidential contender, a walking vagina.
Calling a woman a "c*nt" is denying her brain, her intellect, her personality, her personhood. It's telling her to shut up and lay down. And even though calling a man a "dick" does reduce him to his penis, somehow it doesn't seem to bother men (though please correct me if I'm wrong. I've just never seen a guy flinch at being called a "dick." Not even Tucker Carlson when Jon Stewart called him a dick on Crossfire. Which, God bless Jon Stewart, didn't really elevate the tone!)
A couple of years ago, I heard a story on npr about women in politics in France. Women have far greater representation in the French legislature than in America (well, almost every country does, but I digress). The reporter was stating that, even though women are participating in the French government, they are not always taken seriously. She used an example: as a female French legislator got up to speak on a reform bill, an elder statesman sighed and said "Ahhh, voici les vagines qui parlent." ("Oh look, it's the vaginas talking").
I remember thinking, "Well, at least our few women senators are not so disparaged by their peers."
Looks like I overestimated us again.
And look, everyone has the right to use ugly words to describe people they don't like. Fine. I have problems with people emblazoning such words on tshirts (words you don't want your child to repeat, or words you wouldn't repeat in front of your grandparents). And I have *huge* problems when "professional politicos" reduce themselves to this level. Words change worlds. So, when we think things are important, we should take extra care in choosing words. Calling HRC a "vagina" when what you really mean is "She's as pragmatic and ruthless as Catherine de Medicci" is really dumbing down the message, isn't it? And, sigh, it makes you look like .... well, a dick. (Kidding!)
