I got to thinking today about words. In particular, swear words. Why is it... HOW is it that certain words in our language achieve such power and supposed potential for damage to the young and the frail that they are restricted from use? I mean, they're just words.
I won't pussyfoot around here. "Fuck" is probably the worst word any mother could hear her seven year old child say, followed a close second by "cunt" (which is first, depending on the woman who hears it). But why? It's just a word! Into common usage we accept "screw" as a substitute for "fuck," yet they both mean the same thing. I could say, "Screw you!" on television, which means the same thing as "Fuck you!" "We're screwed." "We're fucked." They mean the same thing, connote the same feeling of defeat or doom, yet if I say the former on TV or radio, I or the station owner could receive a huge fine.
I wanna know why this is! We try to protect our children from hearing such language, we try to discourage our children from using such language, yet we all have ventured into that weed patch ourselves when we thought we were cool or when we just got fed up with something. For some of us it's just a part of our everyday language. Hell! For some of us it's our mother tongue!
Is it possible that words evolve like everything else? I can remember when "sonofabitch" used to be bleeped from movies brought to TV, but now it's pretty much a standby TV swear word. I remember when I heard "bastard" used as a swear word on TV when I was a small child, and feeling shocked when I heard it. "God damn" took a little while longer, but you'll hear it occasionally on your grittier TV dramas. A couple of years ago, on "NYPD Blue," "bullshit" was getting a once-an-episode free pass, and I never heard about any complaints. "Shit" alone never got play, but it was apparently okay if it was identified as the bovine sort. And as for "shit," I think "crap," "caca," doo-doo" and "turds" are words just as offensive, yet they're allowed on TV these days (mind you, it's not to say that I'm offended by any of these words. I just think they're just as strong) (and, mind you, if Sergeant Sipowicz had ever blurted out, "That's a load of bull doo-doo!" I would have shit myself laughing!). In its final season, "Chicago Hope" pushed the envelope in one episode when one of its characters told another, "Shit happens." I didn't witness the episode myself, but I heard the clip played on the radio the next morning. I never heard about anyone lodging a complaint. And what about "fart?" At its worst, "fart" was inappropriate. Kids could say it. If anyone said it, kids -- and most men -- would burst into giggly laughter, yet it appeared to have the same restriction on television as "fuck!" It wasn't until the mid- to late 1990s that Roseanne Barr Arnold took on convention and not only used it on her sitcom, but she devoted a whole episode to the topic. Of course, all the headway and groundbreaking made by Stephen Bochco and Roseanne and the writers of "Chicago Hope" were undone with Janet Jackson's tit flash...oops! I mean her breast-baring on live television. She sure fucked a lot of shit up with that little episode.
Why can't we just drop the pretense? Almost all of us say these words, even if it's only once in a great while. They're part of our language. Look in any dictionary worth its salt and you'll find them all. And regardless of whether we say them or not, we hear them just about everywhere we go. If we, as parents, are with our children when someone on the street starts using such language, we spirit our child(ren) away to a "safe" area, where they can't hear those words. The same should be done in the home. If something objectionable is mentioned on TV or radio, protect the kid by switching channels or by switching the thing off. Don't take it upon yourself to petition the FCC to remove a show from the air. Don't presume that I want or need your protection.
I say television should reflect our society as it is, not as the Puritans who influence the FCC wish it to be. If you are offended by language or nudity on a particular TV show, change the channel, not the network! You say you don't have to listen to such vile language, and you're right. So, CHANGE THE FUCKING CHANNEL! Does this mean I want my kid to hear Big Bird cussing out Oscar? No. But if I don't mind if he hears Detective Sipowicz telling a murder suspect that his story is full of shit, then that's my prerogative. If I DO mind if my kid hears such a thing, then he goes to bed, or neither he nor I watch the show. Don't try regulate MY viewing because you don't like what you see or hear on a particular show.
Comedian George Carlin achieved notoriety when Howard Stern purposely aired his "Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television:" shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits. And then there were the discretionary words like "balls" and "prick." "NYPD Blue" alone knocked three of those words off that list, plus both of the discretionary words above. I think it's only a matter of time -- perhaps a decade or three, as cable continues to erode broadcast's viewer base -- before we'll be able to hear common street language on free television, if we so choose. The Darwin Etymology.
Okay, I had a few beers tonight with some guys I work with, and I'm pretty damn tired, so I'm sorry if I rambled. The Point: words shouldn't be powerful as words alone. The power is and should be in ideas. No words should be banned from the airwaves, just as none is banned from our everyday speech. Insert thought-provoking, insightful ending here.
dassall
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4 comments:
If I may be so bold - let me attempt an ending. It's up to you to decide whether it's insightful, or even appropriate.....
Words are not powerful by themselves. Alone they are merely a conglomeration of letters to which we as speakers of a language have conferred a common meaning. It is the idea behind the word that carries the true strength and power and meaning. Those ideas are what we, as a society - those bound together by more than just a common language, but by common localities and interests and endeavors - have chosen to view as positive or negative.
Look, for example, at the word "balls." No matter what meaning it takes, it is the same comglomeration of letters. However, the idea behind it can be a collection of children's toys, a series of dances, or slang for male genetalia. Should we ban this word simply because it has a use that some may consider potentially unsavory? That's exactly what we're doing with other words.
Think about it - words have no power until we confer it upon them. Right now, I, as a write, view words as powerful because they are how we quantify many of our ideas. But it's not the words that people take issue with...it's the ideas.
And that just brings us back to my original question. HOW do they acquire this power? If I get angry about something, and I feel the need to verbally express my anger, I could conjure the image of fecal matter in one word. I could yell, "Ah, POOP!" Or I could yell, "Ah, SHIT!" Either way, it's the same idea. It's the same image of a pile of poop. But one I could say in church, the other I could not...at least not without scandalizing the congregation...and why I'd be in church in the first place raises a whole other batch of questions not on today's docket. And, because of the weight our society has given these words, one is a whole lot more fulfilling than the other to shout when I'm angry.
So, I contend that in our society today it IS the word, not the idea: A man and a woman are iin the throes of passion. he looks deeply into her eyes and says, "I want to make love to you."
OR
he says "I want to fuck you." In our minds we picture the scene in the former scenario as romantic, but we picture the scene in the latter as dirty. Yet, if the woman is agreeable, whether they make love or whether they fuck, they're doing the same thing.
Jenny asked Johnny, "Can I see your cock?"
"Only if you let me see your pussy," Johnny replied.
"Okay," said Jenny. "I'll show you my pussy, but you have to show me your cock first."
Johnny thought about this for a moment, and then he agreed. He reached into the opening and fumbled around for a few moments, but then he pulled his cock out for Jenny's eyes to see. He held it with both hands, and it stood tall and proud in front of him.
"Wow!" remarked Jenny. "That's maybe the most beautiful cock I've ever seen. And so big, too!"
Johnny's smile beamed proudly. "Thanks!" And now it was his turn. "Okay, now can I see your pussy?" he asked.
Without further delay, Jenny reached toward her lap and lifted the fabric.
Johnny's eyes glared in wonder at the sight. "You have an awesome pussy, Jenny!" he marveled. "That's a lot of hair."
"Yeah," she said. "I meant to trim it a little, but I forgot." Jenny looked at the boy for a moment. "Johnny, can I touch your cock?"
"Why certainly!" exclaimed Johnny excitedly.
Jenny reached for Johnny's cock, but suddenly it jerked in fright, flapped its wings and crowed loudly. "Cock-a-doodle-dooo!"
The sudden motion and loud noise startled Jenny's pussy, and it leapt screaming from the basket in the girl's lap, got tangled in the towel she had used to cover it for the journey to Johnny's farm, and then scampered off to hide under the nearby tractor.
Why, what were YOU thinking?
dassall
By the way, thank you, Claire, for adding your thought- provoking, insightful ending. You have a much firmer grasp of your words than I have of mine and, frankly, I look like an idiot in comparison!!
Fortunately for me, you're the only one who reads this blog so far, so the world will never know!
dassall
I really should be getting ready for work, but I'll procrastinate a bit longer....
First off:
he says "I want to fuck you." In our minds we picture the scene in the former scenario as romantic, but we picture the scene in the latter as dirty. Yet, if the woman is agreeable, whether they make love or whether they fuck, they're doing the same thing.
They're performing the same act, but the words allow us to add nuance, to give more than action, but intent. "Fuck" carries the connotation of a frenzied romp in the sack, full of fury and speed and animal desire. "Make love" is, as you said, considered more romantic, a slower pace, more delicate. By having two different words/phrases, the couple can say exactly what they're in the mood to do without having to say, "I want to have sex with you in a loud, frenzied, animalistic fashion with much haste and noise."
The flip side is that those actions are considered "less desirable" socially than "making love" so the word begins to carry a negative connotation. And that is where words begin to acrquire their power.
As for a firmer grasp of words...I'm a freak like that. I recognize the fact that words have not only meaning but connotation and therefore strive to select the ones with the exact combination I seek. It's a good thing, but at times, believe it or not, it can be debilitating when trying to communicate. Often I fall silent rather than fumble for a word or use the wrong one. So thank YOU for putting the ideas out there and forcing me to wrap my brain around ideas and therefore exercise it in the search for self-expression.
So, no, you DON'T look like an idiot. You're much better spoken (written?) than most people and the ideas are intriguing. I simply come along and tie the bow around the package then slip back into the shadows.
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