Have we learned anything about racial slurs since the Sixties? So-called Good Taste and things like the Broadcast Standards and Practices Act have discouraged anyone but self-proclaimed racists from even thinking about using any number of words that would subject their users to ostracism and ridicule, along with numberous other forms of sanctions that no right-thinking person would want to incur, as if NOT using those words either made you a better person, or at least, did not indict you as a bad one. It also helps to sweep certain ideas and topics under the rug.
But when people of good will and conscience try to express ideas and concepts that challenge the boundaries of good taste or even judgement, it is often necessary to resort to ANY MEANS to accomplish their end.
Context is everything.
For this reason, wherever someone might be tempted to say the phrase “the N-word”, (I refer to the phrase, not the word itself, btw), I instead opt to substitute the word “Ninja” instead. “The N-word” is a passive-aggressive gutless euphamism best suited for guilt-ridden liberals to try to co-opt the power of the Forbidden Word without even taking the responsibility of evoking it. “Ninja” transports us to a different place altogether by distracting us into following in one direction, only to be led into humor before we start becoming too self-righteous.
“The C-word” strikes me as just hilarious…a vapid phrase attempting to supplant a VERY strong word that simply cannot be replaced by the word Vagina…are you kidding me? I have heard some very strong positive opinions by women who are not afraid of the word, and in fact, embrace its considerable power as one of our most important nouns…The Cauldron of All Creation in which we Sauceror’s Apprentices would aspire to stir our Wands, conjuring Majic, Love, Passion and Satiation, as well as Wisdom…. (At least the Women’s Movement has not tried to claim it as their exclusive domain.) Nonetheless, you had best know the sensitivities of your audience before dropping the O-Henry! bar into the hot tub…but chances are, at present you’re more likely to invoke emotional personal violence upon yourself for saying “CUNT” in a mixed crowd, rather than “Nigger”, depending upon the ratio of either women to men or blacks to whites. Although “Cunt” is an English vernacular word which is much older, to the best of my knowlege, it has never been associated with the hatred or genocide associated with the other, which incidentally was NOT originally attributed to implying ANY race. African-Americans are more likely to be targeted by the word than people of other African-based cultures in other countries because few other peoples IDENTIFY with the word. No one else tries to “claim it” as their exclusive domain. Sixty years later, we still aren’t over it. God Bless Chris Rock for having the courage to proclaim what should have been obvious to all of us, yet we were still too uncomfortable to acknowlege.
I would have hoped Bill Cosby’s touching admonishment to all of us on national television regarding improper use of that word might have helped put an end to it, just as Lenny Bruce’s monologue had attempted in the Sixties, but sixty years later, we seem to be moving backward in that respect. The English, the Scots, and the Aussies seem to be attempting to help us get over our squeamishness concerning the word “Cunt”, even though it does not seem to be bred by a desire to raise anyone’s consciousness, especially their own.
I realize this rant contrasts and compares two words that have strong emotional potential, yet are not that closely related, except as forbidden words. Either camp is as likely to be offended by the comparison, as well as many members of the general public who don’t want either word to ever be used, and in so doing, have breathed a life of their own into two mere words. And there are so many more….
Truth has no burden of kindness associated with it. Wisdom, and Enlightenment do, and Humor and Compassion help them do it. Context is Everything.
Nothing is sacred or profane in and of itself. We have Nothing to Fear. “Bad Words” are harbored and nourished by Fear Mongers in Darkness. Drag them into the light of day, and most will wither like common garden slugs trying to outrace each other accross the Salt Flats.
Then again, what we are often prompted to do to express repressed ideas or words without having to actually use them helps point out the legnths at which any seeker of the Truth will go to prove that although Words can be repressed, Ideas cannot.
So tell me, my Friends: What is your favorite “Bad” or “Forbidden” word, and in What Context or How would you use it to illustrate Your Point?
Sometimes, in order to Push the Envelope, you have to Blow Up The Hindenberg.
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