am I technically a *kitten*?

anemoneprose

i'm so glad this is (largely?) a historical term of insult. hadn't thought about what someone might mean by it, using it in a strict sense - what an ugly word for an ugly idea.

Ugly idea yes, but it did orginally serve a purpose. It was used to determine the passing on of property, land ownership & so forth. If someone was classed as a rightful heir or not. Although in those days if you were female you were out of luck when it came to that anyway.

There's that, of course!

I was thinking about how, in living memory (though in the distant past, so far away I'd forgotten it), kids of single moms just got reamed at school, suffered all kinds of judgement.. just awful.

Madame_Goldbricker

i'm so glad this is (largely?) a historical term of insult. hadn't thought about what someone might mean by it, using it in a strict sense - what an ugly word for an ugly idea.

Ugly idea yes, but it did orginally serve a purpose. It was used to determine the passing on of property, land ownership & so forth. If someone was classed as a rightful heir or not. Although in those days if you were female you were out of luck when it came to that anyway.

There's that, of course!

I was thinking about how, in living memory (though in the distant past, so far away I'd forgotten it), kids of single moms just got reamed at school, suffered all kinds of judgement.. just awful.

Very true, as it happens I'm adopted & my teenage bio mum got sent off to a unmarried mother's home - in 1979! :noway: I couldn't believe it when I found that out. It seemed like something from the dark ages!

SpeSHul_SnoflEHk

That's a trout.

UsedToBeHusky

i'm so glad this is (largely?) a historical term of insult. hadn't thought about what someone might mean by it, using it in a strict sense - what an ugly word for an ugly idea.

Ugly idea yes, but it did orginally serve a purpose. It was used to determine the passing on of property, land ownership & so forth. If someone was classed as a rightful heir or not. Although in those days if you were female you were out of luck when it came to that anyway.

There's that, of course!

I was thinking about how, in living memory (though in the distant past, so far away I'd forgotten it), kids of single moms just got reamed at school, suffered all kinds of judgement.. just awful.

Very true, as it happens I'm adopted & my teenage bio mum got sent off to a unmarried mother's home - in 1979! :noway: I couldn't believe it when I found that out. It seemed like something from the dark ages!

My mother got married over the summer of her junior and senior years. She wasn't pregnant. Just married. She was expelled from school for it. She was a straight A student.

Madame_Goldbricker

i'm so glad this is (largely?) a historical term of insult. hadn't thought about what someone might mean by it, using it in a strict sense - what an ugly word for an ugly idea.

Ugly idea yes, but it did orginally serve a purpose. It was used to determine the passing on of property, land ownership & so forth. If someone was classed as a rightful heir or not. Although in those days if you were female you were out of luck when it came to that anyway.

There's that, of course!

I was thinking about how, in living memory (though in the distant past, so far away I'd forgotten it), kids of single moms just got reamed at school, suffered all kinds of judgement.. just awful.

Very true, as it happens I'm adopted & my teenage bio mum got sent off to a unmarried mother's home - in 1979! :noway: I couldn't believe it when I found that out. It seemed like something from the dark ages!

My mother got married over the summer of her junior and senior years. She wasn't pregnant. Just married. She was expelled from school for it. She was a straight A student.

That's nuts! I think they used to use the excuse that if girls were pregnant it would interfere with schooling, disrupt other students, & set a bad example. Seriously though a girl being married & a great grade student isn't exactly going to throw everyone up in arms.