Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The Context of "Dirty" Words

Someone or some group at some point in history decided what were deemed “dirty” or “vulgar” words.  Somebody decided that “shit” was an improper way to say “poop”.   There was probably an uptight English woman who ran a Proper Ladies Society who stated that “fuck” was a dirty, vulgar word for coitus (sex).  I don’t know who decided what words were suitable and which weren’t.  I like to envision that it was a committee of uptight Brits sipping tea and eating crumpets that decided what was okay to say with the head chairperson wearing a powdered wig and those little round eyeglasses and was referred to as “your honorable chairman Sissywig”.  Each member of the committee had prepared a list of words that they would each submit to Chairman Sissywig and they would all discuss it with Sissywig making the final decision.
Uptight British Woman:  Honorable Chairman Sissywig, I would like to submit the word “teabag” as it is offensive when my husband refers to his deviant act of placing his testicles upon my head as teabagging.
Chairman Sissywig:  So be it, from this day forth the word “teabag” can only be referred to when speaking of making delicious Earl Grey tea and will be unacceptable to say when referring to the act of defiling one’s wife with one’s scrotal sack. 
I don’t know if this is how it all went down but I like to imagine it this way, it’s just more fun.  If we step back and think about it all “dirty” words are just words.  We should be able to choose how we react to them.  I could easily say that from this day forth “lol” is an obscenity.  Why?  Because I said so, it bothers me and offends my delicate sensibilities.  Most people don’t actually laugh out loud when looking at or reading content on the internet.  You might smile or chuckle to yourself but you’re probably not laughing out loud to the point that you are rolling on the floor and your ass falls off.  But see, it seems silly if I want to ban a word or deem it inappropriate to say because I am offended.  Words themselves should not offend people; it should be the context in which those words are used that should offend people.  In general it takes a lot to offend me, I don’t like child rape, blatant mean spirited bigotry, uninformed hateful homophobia, and that’s really about it. 
Take the word “fag” or “faggot” for instance.  If two buddies are sitting around playing a video game and one of the guys screws up and loses the game and the other says “Dude, you’re a fag.”  He doesn’t mean, “Sir, I find your actions to be that of a homosexual and I find it despicable.”  He means “Dude, you screwed up, asshole.”  It’s just a word and it’s just two buddies busting each other’s balls and having fun.  However, if those same if a guy passes a gay pride parade and says to his friend, “Look at those faggots.  They’re all prancing around in their faggotry.  Makes me sick.”  Well, that is when it’s hateful homophobia.  Unfortunately the fine line can be hard for some to distinguish and thus the word itself has been deemed unusable in an acceptable society.  The word carries so much power and evokes so many hard feelings because too many people have used it the way I illustrated it in my second example.  The first example shouldn’t offend anyone because in the context it’s just two guys joking around, but the word has been granted so much power that it’s become impossible to ignore or use. 
I think that we grant too much power to words themselves.  The FCC and other like organizations have over politically corrected every word.  They have left little to no wiggle room for their use.  Doesn’t it seem silly when you see a theatrically released movie play on TBS and you hear the cop say, “Listen here mothertrucker, I’m going to beat the spit out you if you don’t tell me where the gosh darn hostage is!!”?  In your mind you already know what is really being said because for one, no one talks like that, and two, you can read lips.  So the actual words have already been placed in your head regardless of whatever bad overdubbing the network attempts to do.  I understand that we don’t really want our kids hearing these words but that’s why you step up and be a parent and check out what your kids are watching.  The parents that complain to the FCC are more responsible for what their kids see then the FCC.  The FCC puts little “warning labels” at the top of every TV show and you should be grown up enough to see when it says TV-MA that your kid probably shouldn’t watch it.  If you choose to let your kid watch that then you have no right getting upset at anyone other than yourself.  People have complained about shows such as “Breaking Bad” and “Sons of Anarchy” with their use of language.  Well, you know what?  Those shows are what they are and if you don’t like “dirty” words, then don’t watch them.  Don’t ruin it for everyone else, the rest of us are adults and understand that the language lends to the reality of the story.  These shows are not for kids.  When my wife and I watch shows like that, we send the kids to the other TV room and let them watch a cartoon or we wait until they are in bed because we have brains.  We know that there are “dirty” words and that the kids shouldn’t watch it.
My overall point is that everyone needs to stop getting so upset and take these “dirty” words in context and quit getting offended just for the sake of gaining attention for yourself.  You can start getting offended when you hear Spongebob tell Patrick to “Eat shit and die, starfish.”

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