I found an intersection between the personal and the
political blogging. One of the books on the long reading list was Holy Sh*t:
A Brief History of Swearing by Melissa Mohr, and last week I used profanity
politically:
I was very angry, but still collected. Using the
F-word so generously was a deliberate choice. There was some shock, which I
think caused people to read it in a different frame of mind than they might
otherwise do. I believe my first public use of profanity was effective.
(Because of the ensuing discussion, that has become
its own thing where I am doing daily Facebook posts that I futilely try to keep
short, but may be useful to some and can free up the blog for the personal
stuff which is probably more effective anyway. If we're not friends on Facebook
and you want to be, let me know.)
I don't believe it would have been nearly as
effective if I swore on a regular basis. It's not a new habit, but it was a
tool that I used, and one that I have been thinking about differently since
reading the book.
First of all, let me recommend the book. There is
etymology and history and a lot of the interrelated things that you might not
think about. For example, many words for bodily functions were not considered
obscene when families were sleeping in the same bed and using the privy at the
same time. That changed as privacy became a thing, which was related to bigger
houses with more rooms which related to economic trends and the historical
events that set the economic trends in motion.
I thought about how we use swearing a lot while
reading. It didn't change my overall views, but it reinforced some things. When
I talk about profanity as a tool, it goes back to the reason I read the book,
and the swearing that I would have justified even years ago.
Like so many thing in the building of the long
reading list, it started with a tweet. One girl tweeted that her mother called
her b*tch and c*nt more than she ever heard her own name. (Yes, I will still be
editing them out most of the time. But I didn't edit the book title - that
asterisk is on the cover.)
It seemed profoundly sad, and yet there was a
strength to the way she tweeted and the way she is in general. I was thinking
of all the ways that girls and women are addressed - sometimes openly
diminishing but often not obviously so - that's why I needed to check the book
out. And the book wasn't really about that, but it was still a really
interesting book.
That particular issue will come up more with the Slut!
book, which we will get to.
For now, just words? Or not just words? It's both.
We can use language carelessly, and have results we don't intend. We can use
language deliberately and be very harmful or very helpful.
I try and use my words in a good way, which may
incorporate shocking people, making them uncomfortable, and even offending
them. Even when I get it wrong, I can promise you that I have thought about it.
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