Attitudes Towards Genitalia---Rant

[ms-douchebag.livejournal.com]

I feel like I'm being an asshat for writing this, but it's been on my mind lately...

Why does the concept of "having balls" have connotations of courage/strength?

I think it's quite interesting that the phrase is so common. As a woman struggling with the functions of my sexual organs, I think it makes no sense whatsoever. Having testicles is certainly vulnerable, but I think it's safe to assume that a woman goes through more suffering throughout her life due to her ovaries and uterus than a man experiences with some shots to the nuts. How many times in his life does a man receive a blow to his testicles? Often enough for his tastes, I am quite sure. And based upon the observable reactions, it's clear that the contact is quite painful. But the pain will go away, and the balls will recover relatively soon.

I'm happy with my sex organs--I think their hidden nature adds a bit of mystery to my anatomy. I like being a woman. I believe that our organs undergo so much more stress with their functions. The pain and stress of periods, every single month, for decades. Not only do we swell and stretch in order to produce children, we carry them around for nine months. And after that feat, we must somehow let them out of our bodies through our vaginas. We have to deal with painful changes in our breasts, whether due to the menstrual cycle or childbirth. And then menopause.

I'm certainly not complaining about being a woman. I feel quite strong as I survive the antics of my body. I believe, however, that the expression of "having balls" is ridiculous, taking the female situation into perspective. I've been trying to replace "having balls" with "having a uterus" in my everyday speech, because it tells of such struggles which the testicles can only dream about. What's so tough about balls anyway? Sure, it takes strength to be vulnerable, but once hit, the owner of the pair curls up on the floor. What do women do with our organs? We continue to have children. That's what. Birth control, smirth control. It's a well needed break.

I have one tough uterus.

Comments

[asunlitrose.livejournal.com]

I love your post. In fact, I was laying in bed being lazy and supposed to be getting up and this post made me jump out of bed. All language is male in nature, having been created and maintained by male. As other posters have mentioned, woMAN and feMALE are just a couple of examples. I did a unit about gender stereotyping in one of my classes and people are always so surprised of the connotations words have. We discussed what is means to "be a man" and what it means to "be ladylike" and then the insults if you aren't those things. The worse insults to a man is to be called a woman and challenge his masculinity - calling him a bitch, or a pussy, or any derogatory gay remarks. The biggest insults to women are challenging their sexuality - slut, whore, or calling them a bitch if they possess assertiveness or seem "too powerful" (a male trait).

It pisses me off that the biggest insult to a man is to be a woman. Really, there are worse things in the world to be. Being called a woman should be a compliment, but I know it won't be that way. Loved your post!

[ms-douchebag.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it! I totally agree that being a woman and possessing the genitalia of a woman should have positive connotations. We kick ass, in our own womanly ways.

[hamster-lemming.livejournal.com]

actually if you go back far enough much of today's language was created by women and merely appropriated by men and twisted to mean something negative or derrogatory towards women...I don't have the exact quote but a perfect example of this is the word bitch. Originally bitch was in reference to the hunting goddess (mostly known as Athena)or her sacred hunting dogs. saying someone was a son of a bitch wasn't an insult then like it is now, it was saying they were the child of a goddess. Cunt is another one as is just about everything else out there...a good reference if you are interested is Barbara G Walkers Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets.