Comments on: A Rumination on the ‘C’ Word

By: archangel

archangel — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:53:57 +0000

not sure which age men are cringing and running away from words that portray the feminine genitalia. My two cent's worth, why would any het want to run away from what they love, adore, need, want, cherish, find so mysterious. I am laughing. I hope you are too. My sense, from exp, is that this 'cringing' may be mainly generational. Even so, there are exceptions in each age group I imagine. The pity. For them. There are so many funny and affectionate names for both genders'

By: Conventional Folly » David Gregory uses the ‘C’ word

Conventional Folly » David Gregory uses the ‘C’ word — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:49:59 +0000

[...] not that ‘C’ word. I’m talking about [...]

By: MomsHugs

MomsHugs — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:57:03 +0000

My daughter read “Raunch” with her book club & became quite worried for her 11 yr. old daughter's future. We had a long talk about raising girls and the building blocks of self-confidence necessary to become responsible women able to in turn become strong mothers. Teaching our girls & boys their self-worth as human beings is absolutely necessary if we are to reverse the last 40 years of instability in male-female relationships that has lead to unstable parenting. Sexual clothing for girls did not arrive by magic. Adult women enabled this trend by creating, marketing & purchasing such porn-star knock-off clothes for even our little girls. Mothers not enabling this trend desperately need fathers to speak up & set higher standards. The same goes for “raunch” talk & behavior. Frankly, crude behavior has become the norm and will remain so unless we all step up our standards of speech & behavior in our every day lives to show respect for one another.

By: DLS

DLS — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:08:27 +0000

Don't neglect the book mentioned in the material Joe quoted! “Expletive Deleted” is great reading.

By: JWindish

JWindish — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:35:41 +0000

MomsHugs, I read, recommend and admire Ariel Levy's insightful Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. If you've not read it you might like it.

By: DLS

DLS — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:17:41 +0000

". Why has it retained the power to outrage when other coarse language has found its way onto the playground"

It hasn't been any different, overall, than the other words.

Now through a distorted PC lens, it could well be different, but the problem there isn't with the word.

By: roro80

roro80 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:00:34 +0000

"The derogatory term for vagina just seems so foul, so dirty, so … down there. But wait: isn’t the perfectly neutral word “vagina” enough to send most men screaming from the room?"

I've found that most men who run screaming from the room at the mention of the correct anatomical term "vagina" are the same ones who throw the c-word out as an epithet. I think that while the quote above is true, it does not lead to the following at all:

"Our aversion to the C word may simply reflect our cultural aversion to the C."

It is because of the cultural stigma toward the awful act of having a vagina that men feel the need to throw around the c-word as an epithet while being uncomfortable with the idea of the actual anatomy. Of course, as the men run screaming from the v-word, we women are fully expected to hear all about the awesomeness of the fallus. If that's uncomfortable for us, we're considered prudes with no sense of humor.

By: MomsHugs

MomsHugs — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:04:48 +0000

Joe, the phonics of letters 'F' & 'S' (sucking sounds) and the letter 'K' (smacking sound) resonates with male sexuality & emotional expressions of anger, horror or even wild approval. Given men think of sex every 6 minutes on average, using words that begin & end with those letters should come as no surprise. Women having had no money nor power historically, it should also be no surprise they have adopted men's crude talk as they have adopted their clothing (jeans, loose shirts, sweat pants/shirts, pant suits). Using crude words when inappropriate is the crux of the matter. As the pendulum swings too far one way, it will reach its full thrust & begin its return path (no pun intended).

By: Father_Time

Father_Time — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:20:46 +0000

Such subject mater.

By: dmf

dmf — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:04:13 +0000

personally, i find squeamishness about any mere collection of letters or syllables to be confusing and rather unenlightened.