Feistiness is a female attribute, apparently

Sorry, I do not understand, nelliemoser. I wrote a list of words that are often applied to a woman but not to a man. It was a list quoted from an article in The Guardian. I did not give a meaning for feisty.

Maybe it just goes with intelligence.

DBH said yesterday when he got home from school that one of his girl pupils has a sharp tongue. I asked him how he would describe a boy who had made the same remark, and he looked surprised, but without hesitation said he would have said exactly the same.

So we got into a discussion about words, and he said that although boys can be cruel with words, the ones who do are far scarcer. Far, far scarcer. They are also not likely to be praised for having made a cruel remark, although they may raise a laugh. Whereas slightly older girls, he feels, use words to make clever remarks with little consideration for the pain it may cause. It was interesting.

The girl pupil he referred to is very intelligent, but has gradually alienated a whole class of girls, so has been moved to his form and been warned by DBH to keep her tongue to herself until she has counted to ten! He has been shocked by something she said already, and they have only been back since Wednesday.

Durhamjen That was not how I had regarded the word, I thought feisty as a very positive term.
Yes probably a woman, but one who is not a shrinking violet and is prepared to stand up for what she wants but not in an aggressive way. A positive person.

Having said that I have no idea what the current usage of this word might be.
These days it seems people are forever changing the use of words you thought you knew. (What is the world coming to.)

It's not a word I have ever used but when I come across it I immediately think of someone who stands no nonsense.

Like HollyDaze, one word I abhor is Bitch!

I would never choose to use it anyway, I think I would choose lively and self-assured, which could equally describe a male.

I've been thinking... what does "feisty" mean? Does it mean powerful? strong willed? assertive? dominant? loud mouthed? inclined to indulge in non-stereotyplcal behaviour (as in "feisty gran performs citizen's arrest") ? Eccentric?
Could I sum it up by saying that women are still expected to be quiet, passive and yielding and that the descriptor "feisty" means they are doing the opposite, much to everyone's amazement/amusement?

I was given a 'Silly Old Moo' mug by ex-SIL.

DD told me he'd given one to his own mother too!

I have a coffee mug with 'stupid old cow' printed on it, given by my daughter. I love it but often give it to my mother with her tea. there is a whole range of crockery with 'cow' slogans somewhere.

Just as bad as when we went to Rye, and also to a huge garden centre recently and half of the items on sale for men had 'grumpy old git' written on them, or 'grumpy old man'. I felt instantly sorry for every older man I know, as I am sure they will all receive something with that written on it at some point. If a woman were to be given that, she would be incensed.

So many words; I always thought feisty was quite a good adjective, but in fact it means standing up oneself in a male-dominated world, doesn't it.

One derogatory phrase that comes to mind that is used about men is that they are behaving like 'an old woman'
So what is that like exactly?

The idea of Nick Clegg being feisty is a bit of a laugh.

The trouble is when you use these words about a man the implication is that they are feminine in a negative way. As when Varsi criticised senior Tory politicians buy saying they were bitchy.
A double negative - not only are not not a proper man but you are like the worst kind of woman. Calling Nick Clegg feisty or bubbly for instance would be a bit of a put down

I deliberately use many of those words to describe male friends at times. They always look surprised, but seem to take it well. I've always done it, ever since I was described as a fluffy airhead by an irate boyfriend - which caused much hilarity at the time as it was so patently not true. Catty is another one I have called many a male.

I have certainly heard 'bossy' being applied to a man.

Strange, that. There's a similar article in today's Guardian by Emine Saner.
"Feisty. Flounce. Bossy. Hysterical. Nag. Have you ever heard these words used to describe men? Thought not."

Don't read the Telegraph, but what an interesting article, and how true! I have a friend who uses the word "feisty" a lot; always of women and always as a compliment. It's a word I hate, but as I am very fond of her, I button my lip!

Yes, HollyDaze, I agree about "bitch" and the other unparliamentary words regarding women. Often the male equivalent is used as a compliment (he's a bit of a dog hurr hurr). I hate "bubbly" too. It often seems to be used for a girl to whom something horrible or even fatal has happened and it seems so sad to use a word which sounds as if it should mean something like "infectiously cheerful and happy" of both sexes.

Most of those can be applied to men (and I have used them in that context), there are others that can only be applied to women but, by the same token, there are terms that can only be applied to men.

The one that gets my back up quicker than anything is the use of the word 'bitch' (there are others but they fall into the foul, gutter-language area) as an attack on a female.