Cunt!
In defence of the ‘C’ word - Laurie Penny
The word shocks because what it signifies is still considered shocking. Francis Grose’s 1785 A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue defines “cunt” quite simply as “a nasty name for a nasty thing”.
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What is it about that word? Why, in a world of 24-hour porn channels, a world with Rihanna’s “Rude Boy” playing on the radio and junior pole-dancing kits sold in Tesco, is the word “cunt” still so shocking? It’s a perfectly nice little word, a word with 800 years of history; a word used by Chaucer and by Shakespeare. It’s the only word we have to describe the female genitalia that is neither mawkish, nor medical, nor a function of pornography. Semantically, it serves the same function as “dick” or “prick” - a signifier for a sexual organ which can also be used as a descriptor or insult, a word that is not passive, but active, even aggressive.
There are no other truly empowering words for the female genitalia. ‘Pussy’ is nastily diminutive, as if every woman had a tame and purring pet between her legs, while the medical descriptor “vagina” refers only to a part of the organ, as if women’s sexuality were nothing more than a wet hole, or “sheath” in the Latin. Cunt, meanwhile, is a word for the whole thing, a wholesome word, an earthy, dank and lusty word with the merest hint of horny threat. Cunt. It’s fantastically difficult to pronounce without baring the teeth.
It is this kind of female sexuality - active, adult female sexuality - that still has the power to horrify even the most forward-thinking logophile. Despite occasional attempts by feminists such as Eve Ensler to “reclaim” the word cunt as the powerful, vital, visceral sexual signifier that it is, the taboo seems only to have become stronger. Media officials avoid it with the superstitious revulsion once reserved for evil-eye words, as if even pronouncing “cunt” might somehow conjure one into existence. The BBC wouldn’t be in half so much trouble if James Naughtie had called Jeremy Hunt MP a “prick” or a “wanker” or a “cold-blooded Tory fucker”.
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Men have so many words that they can use to hint at their own sexual power, but we have just the one, and it’s still the worst word you can say on the telly. Let’s all get over ourselves about “cunt”. Let’s use it and love it.
I love cunt. Cunt, cunt, cunt! It’s a fun word to say.
CUNT
I use it daily. Probably my favourite word.
(via lipsredasroses)
