[Ads-l] RES: fines for saying "you guys" to mixed groups?

[Jonathan Lighter]

A disturbingly amusing commercial for Progressive has Flo dissing a "guy"
as a "drama queen."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EG-T9nQ3jH4

Is this demeaning to women? Or to men? Or, wait, I know, gays? Or
everybody? (If everybody, is that worse?)

(SERIOUSNESS ALERT)

What is the reasoning behind statements that if one calls an individual of
Group X a conventionally opprobrious (or, in the case of "guy,"
non-opprobrious, even affable) epithet that can also be applied to members
of Group Y, all members of Group Y are injured? (Though not, it seems, any
other members of Group X....)

Any empirical studies to show this?  Forty years later, am still waiting
for studies demonstrating that the English pronoun system leads to
discrimination against women, and that that discrimination can be
ameliorated by the invention of ingenious new pronouns.

JL

PS: Is British "bugger" dangerously homophobic? How about "Bugger off"? And
how about American "booger"?  (American ignorance that it's really "bugger"
is no excuse. We're talking about mass Sapir-Whorf victimization here.)


On Sun, Jun 14, 2015 at 9:32 PM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> Subject:      Re: RES: fines for saying "you guys" to mixed groups?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On a whim, I Googled for "dick chaser." Among the hits:
>
> http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bg/mybitches.html
> "My Bitches"
> (feat. Bullet, Juvenile)
>
> ====
> You a dick chaser
> Just the way I like y'all bitches
> =====
>
> Warning: The lyrics are extremely vulgar and the page caused Firefox to
> crash.
>
> Urban Dictionary also has an entry.
>
> Just a FWIW as this word is in no way as widespread as "skirt-chaser."
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>
> Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/home
> > Laurence Horn <mailto:laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> > June 14, 2015 at 6:19 PM
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society<ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Laurence Horn<laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: RES: fines for saying "you guys" to mixed groups?
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > This kind of metonymy (or is synecdoche?  I can never remember which is =
> > which) doesn't apply to "prick", and significantly I think applies =
> > elsewhere in gender-marking: compare "skirt" =3D 'woman' as in =
> > skirt-chaser with no obvious male equivalent.  And of course applying =
> > "cunt" to men (OED 3), in the U.K. or elsewhere, takes the generalized =
> > insult one step further (and is of course analogous to sergeants or =
> > sports team coaches calling their male players girls or ladies). =20
> >
> >
>
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