> still sounds like feminist over-sensitivity.

You're right - I am a feminist, and very proud of it. Aren't you?
You should be, if you aren't.

> "like a heffer" says nothing
> about the woman, but
> about her engorged breasts.

I don't need to hear any of my - or my family members' - body parts
called by any more disparaging names, thank you. I don't care what
condition they're in, I would ask to hear them referred to
respectfully, and described in positive terms. It's hard enough
maintaining a healthy body-image as a female, without having to hear
my breasts compared to a cows' udders.

I think that even out there in the comfort of your desert hideaway
you must be aware that there is a truly monstrous blight on young
females - where the pressure to be thin is so vicious that anorexia
and bulimia have reached epidemic proportions unprecedented in
history. The self-hatred and body-image problems that girls feel
beginning in elementary school is not a problem to be scoffed at.

I would hope that you would feel obligated to not contribute to this
in any way, either by your choice of language, the mental images you
paint, or in any other way you might make girls feel bad about their
bodies.

> Now I hope that doesn't offend another hypersensitive!

It is a cheap tactic, and an old, old trick, to call the person who
is offended by your nasty insensitive comments, "hypersensitive."
You are in good company - a world of bigots before you have thrown
out insults and then sneered when their victims took offense.

The better thing would be to apologize for your mistake, retract it,
and promise never to do it again.

What you ought to say is, "Oops - sorry - I shouldn't have used that
word. It was insensitive on my part. Thanks for pointing it out. Let
me find another word to describe what I was trying to say. I'm glad
you mentioned it, and I certainly won't use it again."