ONCE I GOT TOLD OFF FOR CALLING MYSELF A TART
Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1907:
I once got admonished in a work meeting saying I was an academic tart in how I go about my research. I meant tart in the sense that I'll do whatever, provided it's ethical, to promote myself. And, moreover, I was always happy to read and research outside my so-called discipline. Though I was politics, I was more than happy to read anthropology, biology, cultural studies, ecology, economics, geography, history, law, psychology, social policy, social work, sociology, and even engineering, mathematics and physics (if not too technical) for me to gain understanding. I was very cross-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary in the way I did my research, though I must admit I never bothered with chemistry or religious studies. (I was told that that there's a difference between those disciplinaries but I never worked it out!)
Do you find the tart word when used to describe people, especially women, an offensive term?
Metaphorically and even non-metaphorically speaking, how much of a tart are you?
The person who challenged me at the meeting was a feminist who claimed, rightly or wrongly, that I was being sexist because tart is a derogatory term for a woman who sleeps around, at least here in Britain. My defence was that I am a feminist and certainly not a sexist and that that I was stretching the 'tart' word to include men in a metaphorical way. I don't think she, a professor, bought my defence but it sure made for an awkward meeting thereafter.
Looking back at the incident, I should have chosen my words more carefully. But if men can be tarts, both metaphorically and even non-metaphorically speaking, then I'm happy to be called a tart!
Jean-Louis Forain's Le Client, 1878:
I don't know that "tart" has the same meaning here in the states. I've never heard it used offensively against women. If I hear someone saying tart, I'm thinking they're talking about food.
ReplyDeleteIf you're asking, will I do whatever, provided it's ethical, to promote myself? No, I don't just live by a set of ethics, I also have values. I don't place that high of a value on promoting myself currently.
If you're asking do I sleep around? Sometimes, but I don't think that's a bad thing.
I thought the 'tart' word may be used differently here and than where you are.
DeleteIf you call a woman here a tart, it's means they either have sex with lots of men or they dress in a certain so called provocative way. On both counts, I think that's the woman's choice and not something to be chastised about. Men do the same but it's often called here playing the field or sowing one's oats!
I think the 'tart' word, a bit like the 'queer' word, needs to be reclaimed.
Here, they use “slut” or sometimes even “whore” for the same.
DeleteThose words are used here, tart is probably at the lower end of the scale of abuse.
DeleteThey used to use the word "tart" here decades ago in regards to Loose women so yes it was considered derogatory. Now the words "slut", "skank" and "whore" are more widely used.
DeleteThe tart word is still used here. Alss used, and far more derogatory, are the slut and slag words.
DeleteI have not heard much of "slag" here yet."Skank" yes I have..
DeleteSlag is a slang term only used in Britain it seems.
DeleteTo me, in terms of slang, tart=slut.
ReplyDeleteBut describing a fruit or white wine would come to mind first 😂
I use the tart word to describe a sharp acidic taste in food and drink.
DeleteI'm familiar with the term but yeah, it isn't used commonly here; as others have said, someone would be more likely to say slut, or worse, whore.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm on the side of the stuffy feminist. I used to jokingly refer to myself as a humorless feminist, as a way of trying to soften those kind of critiques when I'd deliver them. E.g. "Sorry, I'm a humorless feminist and it's not in good taste for you to use that word".
I understand that you'd be on the feminist's side. With hindsight, I am. But at the time I felt I had to explain myself. I did but the meeting which was all about potential research collaboration went flat. It turns out that not many people wanted to collaborate with her because she was a freerider.
DeleteSome professors would pull rank and insist their name was on some research publication (usually first) without doing anything other than read the final draft before being sent to a publisher.
I may not have enhanced my feminist credentials at that meeting but I maintain I was then and I am still a feminist. One of my initial reasons not to describe myself as a feminist - I was a late convert - was because I didn't believe a man can be a feminist. But I got round that.