My thinking is, “douche bag”, used against patriarchists and male supremacists, is an insult, not because we now realize regular douching is bad, or because douching is per se bad, but because the term hearkens to the reasons for which douche bags were invented, namely, to clean what men believed to be women’s foul-smelling, diseased genitalia. When we use the word, the patriarchists we intend to insult are insulted, not because douche bags are bad things, but because of the revulsion over women’s bodies which the term “douche bags” evokes and which inspired their invention. A douche bag is a neutral object with some valid reasons for existing. It is only revolting or disgusting when it is connected with sexist views of women’s vaginas and bodies. And for this reason, using words like “douchebag” as an insult is, I believe, sexist.Note that there is at this time, and presently, controversy about the use of this term.
ego: Well, when I use the word douchebag, which is rare, I certainly don't mean it as anything like the way mareli described it in the post. It's just a description of a guy with certain undesirable characteristics.posted by FishBike at 5:42 AM on October 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
superego: Ok, but would you call a woman a douchebag?
ego: No.
superego: Why not?
ego: I'm worried it would seem misogynist or sexist.
superego: Well then?
ego: I see your point.
"My faith tradition tells me that to have a 'tolerant' society is to demean society. If I say that I will tolerate you, I am demeaning you. If I say that I will accept you, I am still demeaning you. Now if I was to say, 'I will respect you,' that would be slightly better. But what if I said, 'I will lay down my life for you!'? You have to try and have that kind of spirit of sacrifice."We don't generally speak of "tolerating" or "accepting" something unless we think there's something negative about it that needs to be tolerated or accepted. If there's nothing negative, we're more likely to use words like "respect" or "admire" or "value".
—Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh,
Chairman, Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha
1967 Amer. Speech XLII. 228 Douche bag, n. phr., an unattractive co-ed. By extension, any individual whom the speaker desires to deprecate.So according to this, it originally was a term for disparagement of women. Strange that it now seems usually applied to men (although I once saw one of my female friends called a "douche" by some asshole we didn't know).
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:14 AM on October 21, 2010 [2 favorites]