The C-bomb
It may surprise some of you, that I have an extremely dirty mouth. I also am a free upholder of the Steven Fry school of thought, saying that those with potty mouths generally are, in fact, the enthusiasts of language - in that they understand the art of language play and words. It can also be noted that since moving in with me, one of my housemates who would have never used the 'C Word' now uses it quite frequently - all a testament to me. One of my favourite little things to say is 'Oh MFC' which does stand for something that I can understand why people don't like - but I believe it is my right to use those words how I please. And, I must say that it is no effect of the media that I came to embrace the word, or its rising use in pop-culture. This is in response to the current Senate enquiry regarding ratings and obsenities, using a range of linguistics, personal theories and modern femanist critique particularly about the word Cunt - if you find it offensive to see the word, please don't read on unless you're going to bring something measured to the debate - not simply 'I don't like the word'. Thank-you.
A month or two ago, I was sitting in a rehearsal room - and usually, when talking to people I don't know all that well I do tone back my speech to something publicly considered 'clean', but in this instance there was no other word to explain the bloke I was talking about except to call him a cunt. Now, usually my use for the word is far less severe, I use it in joking terms, I use it in vague speech when criticising something abstract, or my favourite is (as mentioned before) mother fucking cunt when I'm pissed off and there's just nothing that rolls of the tongue better - again, not usually aimed at anyone in particular. So I can acknowledge that some people find it one of the most grave inslts of all time - in fact, going off my scale of usage, it is probably correct to suggest that I too find it a term to be highly derogatory when said to one's face. At this point, one of the blokes in the room who hadn't really been listening, turned to me and said 'Phoebe, way to drop the c-bomb!' and recently, I have come to consider that perhaps this is why I like saying the word - To get a reaction from those who are prudish or to those who don't quite know what to take from a chick saying it.
Now - this is not the first time that cunt has come into public spotlight this year. In February of this year, the Melbourne City council pulled down posters relating to Greg Taylor's exhibition 'Cunts'. Which brings into light a very interesting question, when there are images of almost completely nude men with 'Puppetry of the PENIS' strewn across the city and often lauded for the cleverness that lies within, what is this saying about female genetalia and the associations that our society has with vaginal imagery? How often is an image of a penis scrawled with street grafiti, when the vagina is left as a great cultural taboo. This reveals a graver truth of societal shame...
From the age of about 10 or so, in the playground we learn all sorts of insults that have evolved around the male genetalia; dickhead, tool, dick, prick, cock, scrotum - and variations on a theme to do with having such anatomy, the most basic example being; 'you haven't got the balls'. In Australian lexicon, at the very least, as you grow older these words become acceptable to call mates in public. Not very many people will give you a funny look for saying someone's a dick, a cock, or a dickhead, unless you really imbue it with an agressive or harsh tone. However, if you use the word cunt with a similar lightheartedness, chances are at least half of the group will start to get uncomfortable. There are those around who would then suggest that this is because there are other meanings for words such as dick and cock - but honestly, who calls someone a cock and thinks of a rooster?
There are feminist schools of thought which suggest women should reclaim the word to empower themselves, much the same as the gay community has reclaimed 'queer' and the African American population have reclaimed 'nigger'. And there are so many reasons to do so - one being the obvious reclamation and open societal comfort of female genetalia, one being a specific insult that has been liberated from it's original term (much the same as Bitch has been in the last few years), and finally allows - as with most 'rules' of grammar and syntax - a fluidity of language - which perplexingly for this word is being continually denied. Certain commedians have suggested that we don't have a 'fun' word for the vagina, and therein the problem lies, it is purely a thing that is labeled taboo. And if this is the case, then surely this is all the more reason to reinvent the word.
The roots and origins of 'cunt' were not always seen as culturally untouchable either. It is a relatively recent developement that we have closeted the word. Yet, still, in literature there have been countless puns in order to still use it - suggesting that while not being acceptable in common lexicon there was still a sense of humour surrounding it. Somewhere along the line the sense of humour was lost, and any allusion to the cunt was rebuffed as obscene.
I'm not suggesting that the word can't ever be offensive, but if someone calls me a 'cold princess' and means it, that - to me - will have more power than say some random using cunt around me. Which brings up a question of tone. You can make any set of words offensive if you really mean what you're saying and set an excessive emotional tone to illustrate the veracity of those emotions. But, through continuous use, one disempowers the innate offensiveness of a word, similar to the path of the common usage of 'fuck' these days. To rob the word of it's innate offensiveness is to reclaim the creativity of language and is to embue it with possibilities... and I really don't see what's wrong with that.
A month or two ago, I was sitting in a rehearsal room - and usually, when talking to people I don't know all that well I do tone back my speech to something publicly considered 'clean', but in this instance there was no other word to explain the bloke I was talking about except to call him a cunt. Now, usually my use for the word is far less severe, I use it in joking terms, I use it in vague speech when criticising something abstract, or my favourite is (as mentioned before) mother fucking cunt when I'm pissed off and there's just nothing that rolls of the tongue better - again, not usually aimed at anyone in particular. So I can acknowledge that some people find it one of the most grave inslts of all time - in fact, going off my scale of usage, it is probably correct to suggest that I too find it a term to be highly derogatory when said to one's face. At this point, one of the blokes in the room who hadn't really been listening, turned to me and said 'Phoebe, way to drop the c-bomb!' and recently, I have come to consider that perhaps this is why I like saying the word - To get a reaction from those who are prudish or to those who don't quite know what to take from a chick saying it.
Now - this is not the first time that cunt has come into public spotlight this year. In February of this year, the Melbourne City council pulled down posters relating to Greg Taylor's exhibition 'Cunts'. Which brings into light a very interesting question, when there are images of almost completely nude men with 'Puppetry of the PENIS' strewn across the city and often lauded for the cleverness that lies within, what is this saying about female genetalia and the associations that our society has with vaginal imagery? How often is an image of a penis scrawled with street grafiti, when the vagina is left as a great cultural taboo. This reveals a graver truth of societal shame...
From the age of about 10 or so, in the playground we learn all sorts of insults that have evolved around the male genetalia; dickhead, tool, dick, prick, cock, scrotum - and variations on a theme to do with having such anatomy, the most basic example being; 'you haven't got the balls'. In Australian lexicon, at the very least, as you grow older these words become acceptable to call mates in public. Not very many people will give you a funny look for saying someone's a dick, a cock, or a dickhead, unless you really imbue it with an agressive or harsh tone. However, if you use the word cunt with a similar lightheartedness, chances are at least half of the group will start to get uncomfortable. There are those around who would then suggest that this is because there are other meanings for words such as dick and cock - but honestly, who calls someone a cock and thinks of a rooster?
There are feminist schools of thought which suggest women should reclaim the word to empower themselves, much the same as the gay community has reclaimed 'queer' and the African American population have reclaimed 'nigger'. And there are so many reasons to do so - one being the obvious reclamation and open societal comfort of female genetalia, one being a specific insult that has been liberated from it's original term (much the same as Bitch has been in the last few years), and finally allows - as with most 'rules' of grammar and syntax - a fluidity of language - which perplexingly for this word is being continually denied. Certain commedians have suggested that we don't have a 'fun' word for the vagina, and therein the problem lies, it is purely a thing that is labeled taboo. And if this is the case, then surely this is all the more reason to reinvent the word.
The roots and origins of 'cunt' were not always seen as culturally untouchable either. It is a relatively recent developement that we have closeted the word. Yet, still, in literature there have been countless puns in order to still use it - suggesting that while not being acceptable in common lexicon there was still a sense of humour surrounding it. Somewhere along the line the sense of humour was lost, and any allusion to the cunt was rebuffed as obscene.
I'm not suggesting that the word can't ever be offensive, but if someone calls me a 'cold princess' and means it, that - to me - will have more power than say some random using cunt around me. Which brings up a question of tone. You can make any set of words offensive if you really mean what you're saying and set an excessive emotional tone to illustrate the veracity of those emotions. But, through continuous use, one disempowers the innate offensiveness of a word, similar to the path of the common usage of 'fuck' these days. To rob the word of it's innate offensiveness is to reclaim the creativity of language and is to embue it with possibilities... and I really don't see what's wrong with that.