Words. I have always liked them; liked writing them, reading them, experimenting with them. I think it’s probably fair to say that I’ve always been a bit wordy. The more expressive the better has tended to be my view when it comes to language, which perhaps might go some way towards explaining why I’m so sweary too.
But Cunt. Now there’s a word. Divisive, staccato, occasionally sexy, sometimes brutal. A word flavoured with strong, gut-deep feeling. No-one, surely, can remain impassive in the face of the word Cunt.
That’s what I thought. Only I have here a quote from Ina May Gaskin, author of Spiritual Midwifery; a book I love so much, I have a copy of all four editions:
“I tend to resist being told what words to use or not to use for my body parts. I don’t want to be restricted to having only a vagina or a yoni because all other words are considered too vulgar to be spoken or written. There is nothing vulgar about my body, and if some words suggest the opposite to many people, I think they need to hear these words proudly spoken (and see them written) enough that innocent words no longer possess such a crazy-making power over us. I just might want to have a cunt one day and a twat the next. On the third day, I might decide that pussy is my favourite word. Cunt, by the way, has an interesting meaning: wedge. It’s the triangular shape of the pubes that suggested the word. The same word root is used to describe something as non-sexual as the wedge shaped writing of the Babylonian clay tablets, which was called cuneiform writing. Should we be excited about that?”
Now much as I genuinely admire Gaskin and believe her to be a true champion of women’s health and maternal rights, I nevertheless find some parts of her argument (attractive though they may be) to be a little disingenuous here. Words have power, there is no escaping it. All words, not only some of the more obviously offensive racist and homophobic terms that might immediately spring to mind, but the seemingly more innocuous ones too. Words, off the top of my head, such as Liar. Beauty. Silly. All can be loaded with variable meaning and significance depending on the situation, the way in which they are said, and the mouth from which they are spoken. It is pointless, in my view, to insist that people look at words in isolation – as though they were merely random groups of letters devoid of connotation and context – and view them as either completely impotent or able to be imbued with whichever meaning takes the listeners fancy. We cannot help but be influenced by the culture that surrounds us and our own personal experiences of the way in which particular words are used.
And so… Cunt. One of the most powerful words in the language, certainly one of the most taboo. It has evolved over centuries from a neutral word meaning simply a woman’s genitalia, into being the most bass insult one man can hurl at another. There is dick of course, and prick, and wanker, but all these pale into trivial insignificance when compared with the stark slur that is Cunt. Anyone wishing to espouse the notion that we have now succeeded in achieving equality between the genders will do well to remember this: that when push comes to shove, the very worst thing a man can call another man is… a woman.
My own ambivalence towards the word Cunt runs fairly deep. When bandied about as an insult I find it deeply offensive, or rather perhaps I should say that I find the fact it is being used as an insult offensive. But used as a describing word; as an alternative to, say, the overly clinical Vagina, or the vaguely pornographic Pussy, or my own midwives preferred term of Fairy, as in – on the day after giving birth to my unnaturally large headed third child on the living room floor – “Alright my love, how’s your fairy?” (it had seen better days to be perfectly frank but anyway… where was I?) Oh yes, used positively as a describing word, by either gender, I would say unequivocally that Cunt is the girl for me.
There has, of late, been a movement towards reclaiming the word Cunt for women, the most famous example being Eve Enslers piece in the Vagina Monologues in which all the actors shout the word loudly in unison at the end. Of course what is so deliciously subversive about this is that it’s not supposed to be a word that women use. It pertains to our bodies, yet we may not speak it. Well I say fuck that. It is our word and we need, not to deny its power in the first place, but to acknowledge and honour that power by wresting it back out of the hands of those who would use it to insult us and each other.
Because I like its unashamed in your faceness. I like its no holds barredness. I like its lack of perfumed prettiness. And I would like to hear more women say it loud and say it proud.
CUNT!
Great post. I reclaimed “cunt” a couple of years ago. Damn, it felt good. Cunt can be so pleasurable.
Indeed. It is a good word. It is *our* word. Definitley up there in my top ten.
There are far more offensive words around than cunt. Poverty for one. Words are just words but they do have power… but that power should come from their meaning and nothing about the meaning of cunt is offensive.
I would agree that the power attached to a certain word *should* relate to it’s meaning. And certainly if that was the case then the word poverty would stick in the throat of some folk in just the same way that cunt does.
But that’s not what we’re dealing with in the reality of day to day. I know some women who cannot even bring themselves to say cunt – they refer to it as the C word. I’ve never heard anyone feel the need to refer to the P word. And I would like that to change.
Does this mean I need a new word for when I am suffering road rage?
Nah, when you’re in your car and some idiot cuts you up, all bets are off
I find “cactusfucker” satisfying in a wide variety of circumstances.
I don’t mind the term ‘cunt’ for vagina actuallyh. or even as a term of endearment although that tends to be between English men mainly “How are you, you cunt?” If you said it in the USA you’d probably be arrested though such is the bizarre and perverse power of words
Yes, I’m aware that in America the word cunt is seen and used slightly differently. Isn’t it the worst thing you can call a woman there? In Britain it would be pretty unusual to call a woman a cunt – it’s an insult that men use against each other.
Here’s a rather sassy American artist reclaiming the word.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Jv9fNPjgk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I don’t know. I’ve watched that video lots of times now and I just don’t know how I feel about it. On the one hand the musician strikes me as a very young woman simply trying to make her mark. From some of the other language used, it doesn’t particularly seem as though her intention is to reclaim the word in any sort of feminist sense.
On the other hand, I would say the video is fairly subversive just by virtue of it being so shocking to hear that sort of language being spoken by a woman, in any sort of ‘public’ sense.
I’d be interested to know more about the artist; her background e.t.c. and what she thinks about her lyrics.
1) I always feel utterly awkward using ‘cunt’ as a term of abuse simply because of it’s highly specific gender functions – I can’t get around the fact that its force as hate speech is all about denigrating the target as being so unutterably bad as to be only comparable to (eek) female, specifically female genitals. I don’t think men should use it any more than white people should ‘reclaim’ the N-word (I’ve a funny story about that I might blog one day).
2) The Babylonian cuneiform ‘wedge’. Interesting that ‘cunt’ is derived from the wedge in the writing made by a pointy stick thing. I wonder what the ‘pointy stick thing’ was called?
I’m glad you feel that way. When I hear men using it as an insult it makes me feel very uncomfortable. It annoys me very much when men who claim to be supporters of womens equality bandy it around as a term of abuse. You see it often on Twitter, amongst all the lefty types. They will re-tweet feminist bloggers, say all the right pro woman things, and the minute BBC Question Time goes on and there’s a conservative politician talking rubbish, it’s cunt this and cunt that. Pisses. Me. Off.
It is kind of a fun word. And if someone called me it, I’d probably just laugh. (By the way, I’m on board with you with Downton Abbey now. I think it aired in the UK earlier than here and as the second season moved along, I started to go ick…ick…. I did not, however, say cunt.)
Can you imagine anyone on Downton Abbey saying cunt? Now there’s a blog post…
It’s a good thought for an honest drama about the underbelly of polite Victorian society. The old ‘Grope Cunt Lane’ used to be common in British towns and cities, with streets being named after trades and functions – before the expurgation of street names in the C18, when the Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (now that’s a stocking filler, ooh er missus) listed it as ‘a nasty name for a nasty thing’ (wonder if some of these authors may have been gay – sorry, but having seen the horror with which some gay men react to lady-shapes… ) – and they changed to Grape Lane etc.
But beyond all that – perhaps the real reason that vulgarities of cunt have become so much more potent than cock, lies in the deliciousness of it’s phonetics. Maybe it’s the pairing of the plosive “Ca” right through to the flap (oh lord) of the hard ‘t’. Comparing to cock, maybe the sting comes from the difference in the vowel sound of the ‘u’ – especially if it’s hard/glottal. Cock is somehow softer (oh dear) and is diluted by also signifying the good old farmyard anycockledoo…
So what I’m getting at is, when people (or men) say cunt are they really picturing your fairy, or is it just a good word to use because in many dialects you can linguistically drill it (sorry) for all its worth.
Hello lovely. The Great Wit Wit Woo sent me across cos I did just write a post called Cunt and she said yours was as fab as mine. And some! You kinda of say everything I wanted to say in a really comprehensive and erudite way. I just swore a lot. So. Yeah. Good one. *cries in the corner*
Oh and cunt is a totally awesome word and I agree with everyfink you said. Innit.
Thank you very much. I loved your post too.
Yep, I’m with you on this one. Cunt as a person descriptor for my personal parts is my favourite term. Used as an insult I don’t like to hear non-becunted folk use it, and I reserve it in my own use for serious offenders. I have used it perhaps 3 times to describe a person who has seriously overstepped the boundaries of decent behaviour, and even then I do it in select company only!
Found my way here from Feministe and really enjoyed your post – thanks
Thank you for commenting! ‘Non-becunted folk’ is a phrase I feel I may have to steal.
Feministe is one of my favourite sites. Always really interesting discussions going on there.
It actually kind of bothers me that so many people hate that word. I mean, ‘pussy’ is used for when someone is being weak. ‘Cunt’ is used, interchangeably with ‘Cock’, when someone is being aggressive. It’s the stronger of the two words. Now, I’m not saying aggression is better than weakness, but I do think it’s coloured our perception of the word because most women would rather be seen as ‘weak’ than ‘aggressive’.
I love the word. It’s strong. It’s powerful. It has its place.