On The C-Bomb

I guess because I was in The Vagina Monologues last week, and one of my friends' monologues really got to me, I've been thinking about something recently.  I'm not the first person to rant about it, but it still bothers me a lot.

The C-word.  The C-bomb.  The worst word you can say to a woman.  The word that people speculate was the real meaning of "witch" in  How I Met Your Mother.

Why is it that the "worst" word in the English language is a term for a vagina?  Serious question.  It casts being a woman in such a terrible light when the worst thing you can say to someone is a term for the body part that IS quintessentially feminine.  If this weren't evidence of a double-standard that treats being female as something bad, the worst thing you could call a guy would be a dick.  But it's not.  Rather, it's far more insulting to call a man a pussy or a douche, two words that once again demonize being female.

This hierarchy of offensive words points not only to rigid gender roles, but to roles that make being female one of the worst things you can be...and that's kind of sick.

Yours (with a uterus),
Rachel Leigh