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I’ve been thinking about the word pussy.😳
And before anyone gets nervous, yes, I’m going to say pussy a lot. There really isn’t a delicate way around it.
What I can’t figure out is how pussy became an insult.
We call someone a pussy when we mean they’re weak. Cowardly. Fragile. Too sensitive. Unable to tolerate discomfort.
But have we considered the anatomy we chose for this metaphor?
Pussy bleeds. It stretches. It heals. It withstands pain and pressure. It can accommodate an entire human being making its entrance into the world and somehow return to functioning afterward. It gives pleasure. It receives pleasure. It is remarkably adaptable and literally involved in the continuation of the species.
Whatever else you want to say about pussy, fragile seems like a pretty spectacular mischaracterization!
And I think there’s something more interesting underneath that.
For a very long time, we’ve treated hardness as strength and softness as weakness. Masculinity got associated with toughness, courage and endurance; femininity with delicacy, emotion and vulnerability. Eventually we baked those assumptions right into the language.
Female anatomy became shorthand for cowardice.
Male anatomy became shorthand for courage.
Grow some balls.
Which is objectively hilarious considering how quickly a grown man can be brought to his knees by the slightest mishandling of said balls.
Maybe we’ve had the metaphors backward.
Because the more I think about it, the more I like what pussy represents.
It can be soft without being weak. Sensitive without being fragile. Vulnerable without being powerless. It can endure an astonishing amount without needing to become hard in order to survive it.
And maybe that’s the part we’ve misunderstood about strength.
Strength doesn’t have to mean becoming harder.
Sometimes strength is remaining soft, sensitive, receptive and capable of pleasure while still being able to withstand one hell of a lot.
So if someone wants to call me a pussy and that’s what they mean?
Thank you! I’ll take the compliment!
I think pussy has suffered from centuries of terrible PR, and frankly, I’m ready for the rebrand!
So what do you think?
Can we reclaim pussy as a compliment?
And if we did, what would calling someone a pussy actually say about them?
I could deal with the word pussy but names like tuna taco 🌮 bearded clam silver clam beef curtains are extremely offensive I think and pussy is also a cat soft furry and purrs now how can that be bad?
See!! Soft, furry, warm, purrs when properly attended to… Bobbi, you may have just strengthened my entire argument. 😂
And “beef curtains” needs to be taken out back and put out of its misery. There will be no rehabilitation effort on my part for that one. 😂
See? Now THAT sounds like a compliment! The rebranding is working already.😎
I definitely think it’s a hold over from men being seen as “strong” and women “delicate” for the most part. But there is also the aspect of a pussy takes a beating and doesn’t fight back. For a man that is seen as weakness. It reminds me of the Kenny Rogers song “Coward of the county” Walking away from confrontation isn’t weakness.
That’s actually a really interesting distinction. Somewhere along the way we decided strength meant fighting back, pushing back, being harder than whatever comes at you. But enduring something without being destroyed by it is its own kind of strength, and sometimes walking away requires more of it than swinging back ever would.
Although I’m not entirely sure I’m willing to let “takes a beating and doesn’t fight back” become part of pussy’s new marketing campaign. We’re trying to improve her PR here, Bill! 😘
A pussy is a “Master Piece” no pun intended. It is second only to B♾️bies.
Being callwd a wussy is a whole other subject up for discussion 🤣
Yeah I’m thinking the PR firm will dress up “Takes a beating and doesn’t fight back” for her new PR campaign 😉 Same concept, more nuance. I have been accused of being too blunt lol
Well, obviously the B♾️bies were going to get top billing from you! I’m just pleased pussy made the podium. I’ll take it.😘
😂 Wussy feels like somebody wanted to call you a pussy but lost their nerve halfway through. Whole different PR campaign.
I thought wussy was a mashup of wet and……. wait what was I saying again? I got distracted 😇
Clearly this is why I’m handling the copy and you’re just supplying the raw material. “Resilient under pressure” tested much better with the focus groups.🤓
“Resilient under pressure” is good. Glad it did well in the focus groups. See? This is why you run the pussy PR rebranding campaign and I just supply the rough draft ideas 😊
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