Canuck:
what, we can't describe someone as a "bitch?" someone who isn't even on this site, from a event that may have happened decades ago?
she didn't say "all women are bitches" or "all skinny women are bitches," she merely mentioned that one skinny teacher she had was a "bit" of a bitch.
it wasn't even the point of what she was writing about, it was evidence presented challenging a preconception (fat teachers being mean and skinny ones being nice).
Side note: I'm a man.
And no, at no point did I say all skinny women are bitches. I would never say such a thing, I've never said such a thing.
As an aside, my mother is a small woman, and she's anything but a bitch. Sure, in retrospect I think she made some mistakes, but her heart was always in the right place and I thought she tried to do the best she could, knowing what she knew.
Whether that teacher was skinny or fat, I would have thought she was bitchy anyway. At the time, her physical size had nothing to do with it, but just so happened to be skinny.I must be abundantly clear on the following point. As a general rule, I would never call or deem someone a "bitch," or an "asshole" until that individual has done something to me, or possibly to others to ultimately
earn that title, particularly if that individual refuses to be reasonable and there's an ongoing pattern that won't cease.
That, is a very far cry from the stereotypical frat-boy attitude where women in general are referred to as bitches like they're just meat and something to have sex with. Or the misogynistic He-man Women Haters Club attitude of how they're supposedly all conniving and evil for no other reason for having been born with two X chromosomes. Either of those, I consider a disgusting attitude that should remain in the 20th century, although in some places it seems to persist.
Perhaps this is the kind of response Kitsune was looking for, were he still here and hadn't deleted his account.
Lbd4:
I thought your response was thoughtful and I enjoyed reminiscing along side you. But referring to women as ‘bitches’ is the problematic part.
I sense that you are asking for context, I just hope you like the answer. I also hope you read the above section.
I was 5 years old, and this was the kindergarten teacher who I considered a bit of a bitch. It was so long ago, the Soviet Union was still around.
I don't remember much from that year, but I vaguely remember it was strong dislike that eventually devolved into hate. I don't think she liked me very much either, as if I was a pain in the ass she was forced to tolerate. There is however, one day that really stuck out to me.
One day, I guess was some sort of arts & crafts activity, and the assignment was to make a picture of a log cabin from the supplies provided, I think maybe because the topic earlier that day was Abraham Lincoln. The supplies consisted of construction paper of various colors, scissors, glue, tape, markers/pencils/pens, and.. straight shaped pretzel sticks that I guess were supposed to be the "logs."
5 year old me.. I ate the pretzel sticks, thinking they were supposed to be a snack. The teacher didn't point out they were intended for the assignment. When I figured it out, seeing what the other kids were doing, I asked for more pretzel sticks. She basically said "too bad, so sad, tough shit, suck it up." (not literally, but that's the gist) No apologies. I felt mislead, humiliated, and angry. At that age, that shit really stings - still does.
I tried to complete the assignment as best I could despite that, and tried to kind of make it up to look like the inside of the cabin. But I have no idea if anyone else picked up on it. It was easily the worst one.
Back then, of course I didn't have much life experience, didn't really understand nuance. Was I being fair? I don't know. The teacher seemed bitchy to me.
Overall, it was apparently bad enough, my parents moved to another house to change school districts.
I'll also point out that a preschool teacher I had, she was fat and she seemed nice, as did many others who were fat.
The school bus driver I had during kindergarten, she was also fat and one day she took all of us kids out for ice cream.
Santa Claus is also always portrayed as fat.
Was this logical? No, probably not. But 5 year olds aren't really known for being the most logical. I've often thought back and wondered where my preference for fat people came from, but I can't think of any one particular event.
Eventually, I would meet more counterexamples. Some skinny people who were actually nice, and some fat people who sadly weren't so nice. But maybe by that point the association was established.
I hope this clear things up, and sorry for the long post.
