"Douchebag": The White Racial Slur We’ve All Been Waiting For

[KamaAina]

http://gawker.com/douchebag-the-white-racial-slur-we-ve-all-been-waiti-1647954231

I am a white, middle-class male professor at a big, public university, and every year I get up in front of 150 to 200 undergraduates in a class on the history of race in America and I ask them to shout white racial slurs at me....

First of all, everyone knows that saying anything overtly racist in front of strangers is totally taboo. Even so, most of these kids are not new to conversations about race; the majority of them are students of color, including loads of junior college transfers, student parents, vets, and a smattering of white kids, mostly freshmen. Of course some are just scared of speaking in front of so many people, no matter what the topic.

So I cajole a few of them into "cracker" and "redneck." We can usually get to "hillbilly" or "trailer trash" or "white trash," possibly even "peckerwood," before folks recognize the "Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel" pattern of class discrimination here. And being that we are at a top ranked West Coast university, not only do we all share basic middle-class aspirations, but we can feel pretty safe in the fact that there are no "rednecks" here to insult....

"Have any of you ever called some one black or brown or Asian a douchebag?... How 'bout women or gay folks?" The students had no recognizable response to the initial suggestion. But with each refining question—"Ever call a poor person a douchebag?"—their widening eyes became knowing nods, nods became spoken agreement, and the scattered "yes" gathered into a room of collectively blown minds. Including mine. Yes, it turns out, only rich, white heterosexist men are douchebags.

[Nye Bevan]

1. Clarence Thomas has been called a douchebag here on DU.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9355069

And so has Herman Cain:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2089041

[KamaAina]

16. Not Allen West?

[NV Whino]

20. He's just called stupid.

[JustAnotherGen]

21. I do that in so many words

On his facebook page. I also throw a lot of 'jesus weeps' at him.

[KamaAina]

23. He has a Facebook page?

I need some

[JustAnotherGen]

24. Oh it's fun!

Yeah - not the public figure one - but the one where he promotes himself.

I get the most pushback when he rants and raves and he's got 100 folks liking him and high fiving him about 'taking back our country' and 'we need to get him(obama)' - and I just pop off with -


You. Funny.


Then I get nonsense about how I'm supposed to use a sarcasm tag.

I think my not editing it speaks volumes.

[Erose999]

31. Spongebob Squarehead is such a better name for him. Douchebag is not nearly as specific.

[KamaAina]

32. ROFL!

I never heard that one!

[dilby]

2. I use douchebag for everyone who is a douche no matter race, religion, sex or sexual orientation.

Hell I have called people douchebags over the internet and have no idea who they are other than they are douches.

[joeybee12]

3. Douchebag does not discriminate...applicable to all races, creeds, colors,

national original, sexual identity, sex...and especially applicable for DU members who visit our Sports Group.

[madinmaryland]

15. I thought it was douchebass?

[joeybee12]

18. That's the fishing subgroup of the sports forum...nt

[uppityperson]

4. Seriously? kick to mark to check later.

[BlueStater]

5. "Have any of you ever called some one black or brown or Asian a douchebag?... "

Uh, yeah, actually.

This is stupid.

[justice1]

9. Yep...My son says it all the time to his younger brother, and they are the best of friends.

[closeupready]

42. Yeah, where's the racism? Misogyny perhaps.

But racism, no. Not at all.

[lunasun]

51. +1. My thought

[snooper2]

6. gawker fail LOL

[Cleita]

8. I never liked it as it refers basically to the female to insult a male.

I'm surprised that our militant feminists have not jumped on it as one of their no-no words. Douche, an innocent French word for washing or bathing, has been reduced to an insult and a misogynist one at that when you add the bag to it. I prefer asshole because it's not gender specific and everyone has one. If you want to ramp up the insult you can refer to an animal like a pig's asshole.

[theHandpuppet]

37. I agree.

It's a sexist insult.

[GusBob]

10. There is a DUer who regularly uses the term

Well not so much now he is taking a time out

[KamaAina]

17. There is another DUer who has coined the term "douchebadge"

to refer to violent, trigger-happy cops. I have appropriated it.

[Marr]

11. "Douchebag" is completely race neutral, in my experience.

I can't say it's gender neutral, as I've rarely seen the term directed at a woman. But race and sexual orientation don't figure into that one at all, at least for me here in Los Angeles.

[Historic NY]

12. I'm thinking "sphincter" fits them better.

[VanillaRhapsody]

13. only a denier of White Male Priviledge would

Even be trolling students this way just to prove how equally oppressed White dudes are!

[titaniumsalute]

14. Douchebag is pretty much an expression used across genders, races, creeds

I use the word to usually identify someone as an asshole. He's a douchebag or he's an asshole sort of sums it up the same.

Now if I'm really mad I may use douche barge, douche nozzle, or douche waffle.

[phil89]

19. And people paid for this

class?

[Orsino]

22. I'm pretty sure it's just a sexist slur. n/t

[theHandpuppet]

38. It is.

Because everyone knows a woman's parts are nasty. It says so in the Bible.

It's definitely NOT a gender neutral insult.

[Maedhros]

43. I saw the term "douchebag" described thusly:

A douche is something entirely useless, and harmful to women, hence it's use as a slur.

That seemed accurate, but I still don't use the term myself because it certainly seems sexist.

[Orsino]

48. It's not a slur gecause a douche is useless, or potentially harmful.

It's a slur, and a sexist one, because it goes in lady parts and is therefore presumed filthy.

[Maedhros]

50. I generally agree, and don't use the term myself.

I was simply referring to another's lighthearted attempt to explain it.

[The empressof all]

52. Yep...

The douchebag was created to clean those "filthy" lady parts.

Personally I think we should start using enema face as a gender neutral alternative.

[Rex]

25. I've heard the word used for men and women of all races.

Said (IMHO) akin to calling someone an asshole. You can call anyone an asshole. Even pets.

[arcane1]

26. This is worth reading in its entirety, no matter what one thinks of the headline.

[BeyondGeography]

27. When used with McDouche it could be anti-Irish tho

[bravenak]

28. I use it for everyone.

But I prefer to discuss faces.

[One_Life_To_Give]

29. The Lord and Lady Douchebag was an SNL skit.

Douchbag, what would you like on your salad?

Just vinegar and water thanks.

[Silent3]

30. If "douchebag" gets used more against rich white heterosexual men...

...then perhaps, for too many people, it's only a last resort to insult an individual for his or her actual behavior or attitude (you know, the stuff we can more rightly hold a person responsible for), a form of insult they fall back on only when taking a jab at a person's economic status, race, sexual orientation, or gender isn't the more convenient potshot.

Beyond that, it may also be that hallmarks of douchebag behavior include abuse of authority and an overblown sense of entitlement, things that rich white heterosexual men are at least a little more likely to fall prey to.

For myself, I think I'm more equal-opportunity in my application of the word, though I'd have to confess that (at least in my mind -- not expressed out loud) if a woman is acting in the same way that would lead me to think of a man as a douchebag, I'd often be guilty of having the word "bitch" pop into my head first.

[Throd]

33. Kanye West is the poster douche for douchebaggery.

You're either a douchebag or you're not. There is no racial component here.

[KamaAina]

36. Correct!

[tularetom]

34. If the word "douchebag" didn't exist, I would be unable to drive a car

Years ago, my daughter in law threatened to not let my grandson ride with me because he got in trouble at school for calling some kid a douchebag. Of course she asked him where he learned such a word and he ratted me out - "grandpa yells it at the other drivers".

However, when it comes to pointing out somebody else's douchebaggery, I honestly believe I'm an equal opportunity observer.

[gordianot]

35. Those who use the term are in need of insult vocabulary enhancement.

There are so many ways to insult a person that require creativity and fore thought. For example it is just lazy to use a one-word insult on your average Republican or Fox news contributor.

[Go Vols]

46. +1

I have never used the term,and every time I hear it,it makes my mind go back many years to when I remember an actual douche bag hanging from my Grandmothers shower head.

[NightWatcher]

39. Horseshit. Just because a bunch of entitled white pricks ARE dbags, doesn't make it racial

[AverageJoe90]

40. Not so sure about this, TBH.

Douchebaggery isn't really exclusive to white folks, for one.

But, raising a good point that some folks on Gawker brought up, you know one word that practically has been used as an ethnic slur by some nastier folks out there? "Privileged".....or more specifically, "White Privileged". Like the word "douchebag", under those certain contexts, it's also meant to be *quite* demeaning, but unlike "douchebag", it really does apply *solely* to a single ethnic group.

[Xyzse]

41. That's not true.

I've called many a punk, douchebag.

I generally equate it to someone who feels entitled to do stuff or complain about carp that most others would just shrug off and deal with.

So, it fits many different people. It isn't my fault that it just so happens that white male heterosexuals with an evangelical Christian bent tend to fit that description with an increased regularity.

[Bluenorthwest]

44. The proper slur and only correct word for rich, white heterosexist men is 'Republican'.

We need no other. Republican says it all.

[theHandpuppet]

45. We have a winner!!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

47. lol. hardly.

[Horse with no Name]

49. I've been known to use this term

as well as douche nozzle. I know....

[tabbycat31]

53. First thing that comes up when you type 'douchebag' into Google images

I've used the term frequently and interchangeably with toolbag, douche canoe, douche, etc. 90% of the people I've called that have been well one person, my ex boyfriend. He happens to be white, but anyone who acted like him (regardless of their skin color) would be called that by me.