Ths is really more of an IMHO question, but the word itself is probably safer to discuss in the Pit. Mods move if you deem necessary.
Why is this word so much more powerful and pejorative than amost any other word when used to curse about, or at, women? Nothing else really seems to come close. “Whore” or “slut” are also nasty, but typically are used in characterizing more specific attitudes or behaviors and not as a general purpose slam.
The equivalent for men of “dick” or “dickhead” etc. are almost humorously lighweight in how they are taken by men as insults. The word “bitch” seems similarly lightweight in current use with respect to how women view it. Why is “cunt” so much more powerful that it’s practiucally the neutron bomb of insults toward women? What gives it this gravitas as an insult, and more particularly why does it seem to be much more scathing when used by men toward women than by women toward women?
I came in here to tell astro to watch his language!
I am a woman and can’t tell you why but I can confirm it’s true.
I can curse as well as any drunken sailor, but even I don’t use the “c” word!
I would guess it’s one of those cultural things without any basis in reason. And who decides these things anyway? Who sat down one day and decided “shit” was a bad word and “shoot” wasn’t?
I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that people think this word is any more offensive in and of itself than any other word. It’s especially ridiculous that no one can really give a good explanation as to why.
Someone in another thread going on right now said that ‘cunt’ was just as offensive a word as ‘nazi’. Well is ‘nazi’ offensive in a History class, or on the Discovery channel?
Say it with me folks: There are no harmful words, only harmful intentions.
[sung to the tune of the Meow Mix song]
Cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt cunt!
I have to agree with you. I am not offended by the word cunt. If someone dislikes me enough to call me a cunt, chances are I don’t really care for them a whole lot either. It means no more than someone calling me a bitch.
As nice as I am ( he he he ) not everyone is going to like me.
Good God Cisco your dead on again. It’s ridiculous how far out of touch people can become when they get hung up on things as trivial as “cunt”. If someone calls me a dick, or a cock, or a cunt, who gives a shit. I have a feeling their intentions are no different than if they called me an idiot.
This may be because “dick” is often used an an affectionate sort of nickname for the penis. Most men like their penises, and “dick” is often used in a positive context. Men may not like being called a dick, but they don’t have any particularly bad associations with the word itself or the thing it usually refers to.
Almost no women use the word “cunt” as an affectionate sort of nickname for their genitals. A lot of women sadly do not like their genitals, and even those who do rarely if ever use the word “cunt” in any positive context. “Pussy”, maybe, but not “cunt”. It doesn’t help that some women are ashamed of their genitals anyway and don’t like to be reminded of them, but even for women without these issues an insult that has no real positive meaning in any context is usually worse than one that does.
I don’t think the word ‘cunt’ is a bad word. I don’t think there is such a thing as a word with an inherent value. The meaning someone puts into the word (or put into the word, if it is so deeply entrenched as to be thought of only one way) is what is either good or bad.
I don’t mind the word cunt, I have been known to say I have a cunt, I have called other people cunts and myself a cunt from time to time when I thought a behaviour was particularly heinous. It’s never been gender specific, much like my ability to call someone a dick. And calling my cunt a cunt is mostly because it’s a powerful sounding word, it has hard sounds, and it doesn’t sound all squishy and delicate like ‘pussy’. I think it’s preferable, and quite honestly I like my cunt a lot.
So chalk me up as a chick who not only uses the word cunt, but LIKES IT.
It doesn’t bother me one mite (at least, not more than any other bad word). If someone’s insulting me, it doesn’t matter what naughty words they use to do it; it’s an insult nonetheless.
Cisco, I think you mean me, and that’s not exactly what I said. I said it was a powerful word, and I should have added, “when used as an insult”. The same, of course, goes for “nazi” and “fag”. The words themselves are neutral, but there is a context. When the context is an insult, certain words seem to be really over the top - I believe “nazi” or “fag” would get the insulter banned from this message board, at least in certain circumstances. “Cunt” isn’t perhaps “as offensive as” some other words but its appropriateness has been discussed a lot here recently. Its power could wax or wane.
I have no problems with words people want to use. If “cunt” works for you as a term of endearment, or whatever, fine. I was just pointing out that yes, it is incredibly offensive to some people, and as such, I was giving advice not to just sling it around.
And yet, I don’t get that same visceral reaction with the word “cunt”.
I’d actually like to see a GQ (GD?) thread on this. Has Cecil discussed the etymology of these terms? I know that the term “fuck” has been addressed by the great one, but what about the others? Doesn’t the “c” word date back to Chaucer?
I didn’t even know it was a cuss word until last week. The only places I had ever seen it were in a Stephen King novel (where it seemed synonymous with ‘dyke’), and here, where it was just another insult with about as much meaning to me as ‘felcher’. I’ve never heard anyone use the word in real life.
I’ve always seen it as a threat–a sort of reduction of the whole woman to that one organ, with a strong hint of sexual violence attached to it. Your reaction may vary. I know in Britain it’s not that bad.
But even in da Bronx it’s the worst thing you can call a female. Please, please don’t use it. It would offend and scare me at the same time if you’re a male and if you’re a female, you’ll get bitchslapped.
“Two of the other 4-letter Anglo-Saxon words are Piss and Cunt, which go together of course. But forget about that. A little accidental humor there. Piss and Cunt. The reason Piss and Cunt are on the list is that a long time ago certain ladies said ‘Those are the two I am not going to say. I don’t mind Fuck and Shit, but P and C are out. P and C are out.’ Which led to such stupid sentences as ‘OK, you fuckers, I am going to tinkle now.’”
DH Lawrence tried desperately unsuccessfully to “reclaim” the word in Lady Chatterley’s Lover. He succeeded in so far as it doesn’t look that offensive, just ridiculous. I think he intended the word to sound earthy and raw in that context, but it doesn’t.
However I did have a friend at Uni who used to refer to her vagina as her “cunt” when we had girl talk sessions among a small group of female friends. She actually achieved what Lawrence was aiming for - when she said it, it didn’t sound rude or offensive, but quite natural. The same earthy ring as an Anglo-Saxon(?) root word such as “foot” or “hand” or something. It sounded right - it even had a richness - it’s hard to explain, but it did.
