Guest Post: Sexist Slang

Often, the vernacular we apply in our daily conversations expresses much more than we realize. In fact, slang can be – subtle or not—quite sexist.

How would you typically describe the article of clothing pictured here?

Although there is a range of answers could suffice--- from basic to detailed (e.g. tank top, sleeveless tank, athletic shirt, ribbed cotton tank)-- it’s likely to hear the term “wife beater*”. So common, in fact, I noticed the Sheriff employing the phrase in one of her awesome posts (see “SHOTS… of douchebaggery”). Please note that I’m not trying to be a jerk by pointing my finger at some sort of gross hypocrisy: I’m merely making an observation about the unfortunate ease of saying “wife beater”.

Somehow the description of a simple white, cotton, ribbed tank has become synonymous with domestic abuse. People understand what you mean if you say, “he was wearing a wife beater.” It conjures up an image: usually of a lower-class, male chauvinist with anger issues.

The shirt, more typical for use as a undergarment or athletic ware, when worn in public seems to indicate some sort of problematic behavior. In the former Soviet Union, it was called “alkogolichka” due to its association with alcoholics (according to Russian Wikipedia). In America, it also gets a less-than-stellar connotation when used to sum up stereotypes of Italians.

Basically, let’s get the misogynistic terms out of our vocabulary. Think before you speak--- or if you say it, correct yourself-- and encourage others to do the same. Just as describing something negative as being “gay” or “retarded” has become rightful cause for advocacy, so should the use of terms which hint at, or are blatant about, their misogynistic origins.


With love,
Kiss My Ash

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* Other spellings of this lovely term include compound words, both with our without a dash (wife-beater and wifebeater). For the sake of this entry, however, I will use two words. Hooray.