Etiquette and the c-bomb

So, what kind of a person calls someone a "cunt" and follows up with LOL smiley face? Does this seem mildly disturbing to anyone else?

LOL! Cunt!

Once again, our own Blogging Molly has stirred up the crazy in the blog-o-sphere with her most recent bitchy cunt-faced attack on the authority of men comedic/baffled response to an "authoritative text" from the Male Studies movement.  Sorry, I got a little caught up in the language of Manhood Academy.

The text that Molly highlights in her piece is the kind of vomit-inducing drivel that I have a hard time responding to due to its utter outrageousness; or maybe it's just my "inferior mental prowess" standing in the way.  In any case, she does a great job of pointing out the specific incongruities and jaw-dropping absurdities, and that's not really why I'm writing this.

I'm writing because I'm appalled.   I'm writing because I didn't know people were so hateful.  I'm writing because I hope the dude who "bitchslapped" Molly's argument doesn't actually have a girlfriend.  If he does, would she care to log into Man Academy and corroborate his story of domestic and sexual servitude?  Or would that be in violation of her internet privileges?

So back to that first question: the answer (apparently) is someone who thinks that attacking someone personally is on par with engaging in an intellectual debate; that dinner, laundry and sex on demand are desirable expected girlfriend duties; and that calling someone a cunt is cool as long as you follow it with "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL."*  (See comments section of Molly's post.)

I have a tenuous relationship with the c-word.  Back in the olden days, when I lived in America, I couldn't stomach the sound of it, even in the whole reclaim-the-word-that-once-held-us-down context.

Now I live in Ireland, and let me tell you, "cunt" would probably be the most widely-used word in the country if it weren't for the existence of "fuck."

Of course, the Irish accent makes the "uh" in both words come out more like "aw" or "oh."  Is it the funny pronunciation or simple inundation that have caused me to adopt both words quite readily into my own vernacular?  Overuse does tend to detract from meaning, but I'll say this for the Irish: they rarely use "cunt" to describe a woman and even more rarely do they use it in direct confrontation (in my observation).

So, yeah, when someone nearly runs me over at a crosswalk or gropes me in a pub, I'll say "What a cunt," privately, to a friend.  This doesn't make it more excusable or less egregious; it's just a fact that Ireland has made me a casual "cunt"-utterer.  If it must be used, let it not be hurtful.

What is inexcusable is responding to a funny, engaging, and lively debate with personal attacks and name-calling.  Especially cunt-calling.  It's not just the word; it's the word aimed at a bright feminist in the midst of an unfounded, unstructured anti-woman slur.  It's the word used three times by the same person whose only further argument came in the form of smileys, 14-year-old IM speak, and hateful links.

I have to be honest.  My initial mental response to the "bitchslap" was "What a focking contface!" But that's not what I wrote.  Where I commented, I tried to keep it civil and logical.  Because that's how you intelligently argue a point.  Bravo to Molly for realizing that and keeping a level head and a healthy sense of humor throughout this whole hate-fest. 





*Is he laughing out loud out loud out loud, etc., or laughing out laughing out laughing out loud?  Just wondering.