Insults

Consider when one insults another using vulgarity. Often times the object of insult will be something that has to do with the birth status of the person being insulted. “Son of a bitch” is a rather common example. The insult attempts to discredit the person by asserting that they are of a sort of non-honorable birth (contrasted by the norm of the dedicated 2-parent child). Given that the social stratification of western societies is primarily based on financial status, the birth status is rather insignificant in comparison. It can be argued that typically, the financial standing of the parties involved are similar, thus, superiority in that area cannot be asserted. However, why must attacks on birth status be taken seriously? An attack on one’s financial standing would be much more credible since certain criteria may be implemented to make the argument. An attack on one’s birth status, without explicit knowledge (which is usually the case), is a blind assertion. Is the accusation alone supposed to incite anger in a person?