Editor:

Lighten up, Sam Neuwirth! (Mailbox, Jan. 6) Equating "dick moves" with "cunt moves" ignores the millennia of women being treated as second-class citizens (still, earning on average 80 percent of what a man does for the same job). Equating "dick" with "cunt" is no more appropriate than likening the insult quotient of "whitey," "honky" or "cracker" to the n-word, which is why I don't write it out.

"Dick" and "cunt" are in different categories. "Dick" = jerk = asshole (not to mention detective, etc.), often used lightheartedly ("Oh come on, don't be such a dick!") without reference to male genitals. "Cunt," on the other hand, is genuinely insulting and clearly has misogynist overtones.

If you're interested, I wrote about the origins of "cunt" in my Field Notes column Nov. 2, 2016, under the (inspired!) heading, "Country Matters."

Barry Evans, Eureka