Michigan sucks.Penn State swallows.Ann Arbor is a whore.We all saw the T-shirts which seem to accompany Michigan fever year after year. As always, they did a terrific job demonstrating the Buckeye hatred of our rivals. They also did a terrific job demonstrating the extent to which sexist expressions have permeated our everyday speech.School sucks. This movie blows. That guy is such a pussy. You throw like a girl. This show is so gay.Why are so many of today’s popular negative expressions targeted at women and homosexual men? Think about it. Who sucks? Who blows? Who swallows? These words have become so ingrained in our daily speech that we don’t even realize what we are saying. When you say something sucks, you are referring to an often demeaning act a woman or homosexual performs to please a man. We don’t say “this movie eats out” or “this class licks.” We subconsciously target women to characterize something that is weak or bad. Calling a guy a pussy is a socially acceptable – if crude – way to say that a man is feeble or timid. Not only is it sexist, but it objectifies people and characterizes them as one body part rather than a human being. Hello, but isn’t there something wrong with this? We are part of a society which claims to be non-discriminatory. We virtually eradicated expressions like “Indian-giver” and “getting jewed over” in public language because they ignorantly and offensively stereotyped groups of people. Try using a statement like “that man is lazy as a negro” even in a room devoid of African Americans and see what type of reaction you get. But for some reason, you can say that someone runs or throws like a girl anywhere you want. A guy can be a pussy even in a room full of confident women. Heck, these terms are so common and so unquestioned that even I often said them without thinking about them. But I’m not going to say them anymore.It is pitiful that sexism is so incorporated into our daily lives and subconscious thoughts that we don’t realize when we are using expressions which are bigoted and demeaning, even to members of our own sex. It is incredible that while scholars squabble about the need for non-gender-specific pronouns, saying “humankind” instead of “mankind,” and the use of other latently sexist expressions, no one bothers to criticize the use of overtly demeaning words such as suck and blow. Sorry people, but like it or not, people do use these words all the time. They are on television, on the radio, in girls’ magazines like YM and in the mouths of almost every high school and college student in the nation. They were even on T-shirts sold across campus to celebrate school spirit on game day. It is ironic, when people are chastised for using such language, it is because it is crude and vulgar, not because it is bigoted and degrading toward women. Even more frustrating is that more women don’t take notice of this trend and do something to stop it. I saw countless females wearing the offensive T-shirts. Did they not notice that they were advertising and supporting a message which demeaned them? There is nothing wrong with a little bit of lively sexual imagery to add some raunchy spice to our language. But such imagery is only acceptable if, in the supposedly American tradition, it is fair to all. Self-expression is fantastic, and if you feel the need to say stuff sucks and blows because it supports your misogynistic views, then fine. But get it off of public television, get it out of schools, and get it out of my face when I am trying to watch the damn football game.
Jessica Weeks is a frequent Lantern contributor.
