I've had my problems with this group in the past, but I hope it sticks around.

[Gormy Cuss]

15. Thanks for the explanation.

I understand the perspective of feeling that conversations go off the rails because one party uses a sexist term and another shifts the discussion focus to that term rather than the original subject. I also agree that contextually bitch has differing levels of power behind it as a sexist term. "Life's a bitch" is in stark contrast to "She's a bitch," for example. But "the p-word?" That's always sexist because it links weakness with female genitalia directly and with women in general by extension. IMHO the mere fact that many still won't write it out implies its power. Then there's the "c word, which even fewer people feel comfortable spelling out or saying in public.

But back to the use of the "p-word." Here's an exercise that I found instructive. Write down all of the insults you can think of that are used against men to imply weakness, starting with pussy. Once you're done with the list , go back and cross off every word or phrase that are based in any way on female/feminine aspects. For most people after crossing off the female-related insults, there's few if any left. That's just one example of why I wrote up above that to me it's important to pay attention to language as well as actions when discussing women's rights because it always seems to be interrelated.
IMHO as long as we tolerate language implying that we as a gender are weaker, dumber etc. we will be treated that way regardless of our individual capabilities.