Posted by Kromey at 1:45pm Aug 13 '13This phrase has always seemed wrong to me. As if a woman must have a husband, rather than being able to be her own person and stand on her own.
(In case this is an Americanism, "to make an honest woman out of her" means "to marry her", although its usage I think is generally applied to unmarried couples who are having sex or are otherwise "too intimate" for an unmarried couple -- but I could be wrong on that, it's not one I use and it's not one I pay much attention to, choosing rather to ignore it.)
However, it just came up on Facebook (in a discussion with my mother of all people, in response to my sister posting a link to an article in support of parents teaching their daughters to appreciate and enjoy casual sex, no less!), and I finally actually addressed it for the first time.
Is it a sexist phrase? Is it misogynistic? And perhaps more importantly -- is there a difference between those two adjectives, at least as applied to this phrase?
What think y'all?