[Ads-l] sexist "crazy"

[James A. Landau]

On Fri, 25 Mar 2016 06:55:04 Zone - 0400 Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

<begin quote>
Ted Cruz has called Donald Trump "petty" and "small" for his brainless
attack on Mrs. Cruz.  He also said that Trump's nomination would be "a 
gift wrapped in a pink little ribbon for the Democratic party."
<end quote>

Doesn't "sexist" mean "demeaning to women" rather than simply "gender-related"?

Yes, the quote is gender-related.  If Bernie Sanders were generally considered to be the shoo-in (shoe-in?) for the Democratic nomination, then Cruz would most likely have stopped with the "gift-wrapped" metaphor.  Men are not expected to receive presents with pink ribbons on them.  However, I don't see anything demeaning to Ms. Clinton in this quote, so I would say it is not sexist; the pink ribbon merely makes the metaphor more vivid (colorful?)

What intrigues me is an apparent stumble of the tongue, as the usual expression is "little pink ribbon" not "pink little ribbon".

(note to myself: I like the imagery of Ms. Clinton first throwing her hat in the ring and then being a shoe-in).

    - Jim Landau


_____________________________________________________________
Netscape.  Just the Net You Need.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org