QUESTION: What do all of these words and phrases have in common?
"Fuck You"
"Fucker"
"Fuck Him"
"Fuck that"
"Fuck head"
"You are an Asshole"
"He is an ass"
"You are a Bitch"
"You are a Slut"
"She is a Whore"
"She is such a Tramp"
"He is such a Dick"
"What a Prick"
"What a Fag"
"That is Gay"
"He is a Mother-Fucker"
"You are a Vagina"
"He is a Pussy"
"What a Cunt"
"He is a Twat"
Okay, now what do all those words, have in common with these words...........
"Let's Fuck"
"That is Fucking Great"
"We got married, and then we fucked"
"I want to fuck her in the ass"
"Damn look at that ass"
"Hey, Bitch, Hey!"
"Hey, Slut!"
"Just act slutty!"
"You look so hot today, slut"
"Hey, Whore!"
"Oh your boyfriend is so fine, you little whore!"
"Suck my dick"
"I want his dick"
"I want his prick"
"I am gay"
"Touch my Vagina"
"Lick my pussy"
"I touched her cunt"
Is anybody else wondering why cuss words in the English language are also words describing sex, sexuality, or body parts? I'll tell you why. It makes it a lot easier for a person to feel shamed and objectified. It makes it easier for sexual relationships to be completely unhealthy. How many people will enjoy expressing themselves sexually, if the same words you use to tell someone they are a complete waste of space are also the same words you use to have sex with them? That is why sexuality is so controversial and confusing in the United States.
It's always Fucking or making love, Screwing or doing It, Boning or Banging, piping (my absolute least favorite) or bumping uglies. You are either seen as an object or a baby machine. I am neither.
We don't only have the puritanical church, or the propagandized media trying to shape our sexual identities--we've got Webster's dictionary, offering us two ways to describe our sex lives. Fucked or Fucking Fucked. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I still can't figure it out. I think that is the point. We can't figure out our sexualities, because our language associated with it is not only negative, but so confusing. We need some new vocabulary people. Our limited ability to express ourselves linguistically in regards to sexuality is really scary. You should be scared too. The second half of the fuck list wasn't really appetizing.
That got me thinking, If I wanted to tell someone I wanted to sleep with them, without sounding like a raunchy sailor or the Virgin Mary--how would I do it? How do you describe sex and sexuality in a way that doesn't make you feel like ripping off your vagina and calling it a day? We all know the "I want to share myself with you," and "I want to make love to you, my beautiful cupcake," stuff is nauseating. So is "I want to fuck your brains out," (don't try that one, it is highly un-affective because apparently it makes you look like a "slut,") and "Let's bang, sexy thang."
So either way you toss the salad, you're screwed. Haha, get it?
We need to think of fun sex words. If we do that, we get to think of ugly and creative cuss words--you know you want to.
Not only that, but if we can't even express our sexuality verbally in a way that is healthy, should anyone really be having sex? I don't know what words I am going to conjure up to make up for all of the linguistic damage I have been exposed to, but when i do... you will know.
ANSWER: All of them are equally oppressive.
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Bad words always have to do with things people feel strongly about. In ages past, religiously-based swear words were the worst. Nowadays, a lot of people in our society don't take religion as seriously, and its no big deal to say "damn". But people still feel strongly about sexuality.
Anyway, I'd go with "Let's have sex."
You forgot racial/ethnic slurs...
And you forgot insults about someones physical/mental state (retard, stupid, idiot, shit for brains).
There are plenty ways to put someone down without using sex-based comments.
Yes, but the "worst" words, the seven words you can't say on television (thank you, George Carlin, RIP) are: Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker, and Tits. All of them are anatomy- and/or sexuality-related.
It's interesting to note that in some cases, in other languages, the "worst" words to use have nothing to do with bodies or sexuality. For example, in Urdu (the language spoken by Pakistanis and some Indians), the "worst" words are kamina, haramzada, and haramkor. The first means someone who is of lowest social status, someone who basically lives in the gutter and is probably a drunk and a beggar. The second means bastard, or, more literally, someone whose background is shameful and forbidden. The third shares its prefix with the second and refers to someone whose livelihood is dependent on the use of shameful and forbidden means. None of these really uses sexuality for the thrust (hehe) of its power (although the second does vaguely allude to sex), instead relying on customs and social structure. I'm not claiming that these are any better than sexually-based English words, just pointing it out.
I definitely think in the United States racial/ethnic slurs are worse than sex based.
I have been hearing bitch, ass(hole), cock, tits, and fuck on TV for a while now, and take it how you will, the outrage really isn't the same as when racial terms are used/slipped/caught on a hot-mike.
Imus got into a shitload of trouble for saying 'nappy-headed hoes' and while he did pull a combo by using a racial and sexual slander, both combined to create a larger racial slur.
When Michael Richards (the guy who played Kramer in Sienfield) said a black heckler should be 'hung from a tree' that was way worse than if he called the guy a bitch, cock(sucker), fag(got), asshole, cunt(licker) etc or any of the anatomy/sex/bodily waste slander.
I am curios what women ethnic minorities members of Feministing think... which do they think the worse slander is, one based on race/ethnicity or one based on sex/anatomy/body waste?
That's been true since ancient times. It's because it's something we, as a culture, consider personal and private. Similarly, other words are related to another personal, private act we don't share publicly-- going to the bathroom. It will likely always be the case that swears are connected to things we don't consider routine conversation-- things we want to keep private-- or, like in the case of "motherfucker" or "bastard," insults and insinuations that people/families engage in unsavory or immoral activities or that they are flawed in some way.
Anyway, I find there are plenty of words that are considered "swears" in the sense that they are slang, but usually aren't offensive in correct context. My fiance and I use "cock" and "pussy" to refer to our respective genitalia, because they don't hold a bad meaning to us when actually used in that context (to some, they may, so obviously what works for us is not universal). And since "sex" actually sounds nice and is easy to say (as opposed to the somewhat awkward "vagina" and "penis"), we say sex/having sex. Sometimes the best option can be the formal one or a shortened version of it-- vulva, clit(oris), etc. There are already words out there to use-- we don't have to use the ones that are offensive.
What's wrong with "I am gay"?
what if you're not offended by these words
i always think "lets fuck" sounds better than "lets have sex"
In Carl Sagan's Dragons of Eden he talks about chimps that have been taught American Sign Language. They didn't teach the chimps curse words - but when angry, the chimps invented their own.
(Obviously, very cool, chimps are smart enough to invent new words based on words they have already learned!)
But these curse words would be similar to "You asshole"... like "You green shit!" Plenty of animals use sex, or implications/threats/sexual gestures to communicate hierarchy.