This week's theme is linguistics; I say linguistics as that is the study of language rather than just language itself or maybe I'm trying to make y'all think I'm smart, whatever reason I'm talking about words and how they are used.
Unless you live under a rock or in an Amish community you'll have heard some horrible events took place in London and other parts of England last week. My twitter stream was full of tweets about the riots and looting and I was shocked by a lot of it and I'm not talking about the actual crimes themselves.
So let's step back a second; Rufus Hound is a "comedian" and tweeted this in response to the Malaysian student who was hurt, helped to his feet as other stole things out of his backpack. That act was atrocious; what Hound tweeted was also atrocious.
You have to call those criminals a cunt? Really? Everyone knows that cunt is possibly *the* worst swear word you can use. The worst word you could call someone is cunt and what is a cunt? It's a vagina. So the worst thing you could possibly be, if you are the most horrible, offensive scum of the earth is a women's genitalia.
Dworkin and MacKinnon would argue that the use of cunt reinforces the dehumanization of women or dismembers women to the point that all we can ever be an orifice. No one can deny that the power behind the word cunt is immense.
When I was a Women's Studies student back at University and hung out in a lot of fraternity houses I used the word cunt a lot and I told my professors about it. I thought that by using the word and seeing men's faces freeze in shock as this smiley, little blonde girl uttered *that* word I was taking the power away from cunt. If I could call them a cunt, well then they couldn't call me a cunt now, could they, because it had already been said.
While my professors actually approved of what I was doing looking back I don't think I was truly reclaiming the word. If we want to reclaim the word we need to start using it in a positive light. Anyone who's seen Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues" will remember the one called 'Reclaiming Cunt.' In fact I performed 'Cunt,' in front of my mother-in-law no less, several years ago at a charity performance and that is reclaiming the word.
So back to Hound's tweet. First let me say that his wasn't the only one I saw using gendered language to condone the looters; I saw several tweets calling them pussies as well but his was the only one I saw from someone in the public eye. I can only presume that Hound was trying to be cool (because aren't all comedians who use vulgarity trying to win cool points?) as when I tweeted him calling him out on his sexist tweet he didn't respond.
Am I the only one who calls people out on this? Does cunt make you recoil in disgust or do you embrace and love your cunt?
Feminist Friday XIV: Linguistics
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1 comments:
I do love the shock on peoples faces, as like you said this bubbley girly girl, saying CUNT whatever next... although I tend to only use it at football/soccer and generally am referring to a bad ref or a hated player. I have used it in a post about Frankie Boyle as I do believe I couldn't think of anything worse to express my hatred to the words he'd used against Down Syndrome and disabled people in general... I see the word as a passionate way of declaring you're hatred which I suppose you could read into as just passion... I've never thought of me saying it as me 'reclaiming' it before but I have pulled people up on it after they've showed their disgust, why do you hate that word? why does twat not offend you but CUNT does? means the same does it not? they never have an answer... just 'i dunno I just don't like it'.
I am not speaking for everyone here but It has no real meaning to a footy fan they aren't saying it to be sexist as most don't even know what it means... they say it out of Passion and in the moment and it has been passed down generations from fan to fan, whilst in the crowd. you begin being shocked you learn to accept it and occasionally use it yourself... I think when they come up with a new shock word that will be used instead, giving the word CUNT back to its real meaning and reclaiming it as a feminine word.... but until then people need to embrace it as a word, as let's face it it is infact just a word, only when used in certain situations is it deemed offensive so only when it becomes as 'normal' to use as twat, will it be less offensive... I think you should all start using it... just not infront of the children... school aren't quite ready for this type of thing just yet!
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