Website review: www.matthewhunt.com
Klassy discovered this in Linguistics
•6 reviews since Nov 1, 2006
linguistics, women
•matthewhunt.com/cunt/reappropriation.html
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Reviews of this website
Heggs rated 17 months ago- Words are very powerful things and yes, I agree that they can be used to hurt people. Word reclamation is nothing new- take for example the word queer. Formerly an insult, it's now a positive word amongst the GLBT community. So why can't we do that with cunt?
- Lzygenius rated 17 months ago
- Great essay, a bit a dry and long but very well written.
- camille-martine rated 17 months ago
- looks like somebody down there didn't read any of the article.
- one-1 rated 17 months ago
- oooooh aaaahhhhh!!!!!!!! Reappropriation 'Cunt' may be the most offensive word in the English language, though there have been many attempts to reappropriate it. This movement, which was originally termed cunt-power, sought to invert the word's injurious potential: to prevent men using it as a misogynist insult, women assertively employed it themselves. The feminist cunt-art movement incorporated the word into paintings and performances, and several female writers have campaigned for its transvaluation. In my evaluation of the ideology of cunt-power, I discuss the extent of its practicality, popularity, and longevity. Words As Weapons: Language And Abuse Children are taught this traditional mantra: 'Sticks and stones May break my bones But words can never hurt me'. However, words do hurt us, and they can be used as weapons. Walter Kirn has called 'cunt' "the A-bomb of the English language [...] my verbal fragmentation bomb" (2005), Lucas M McWilliams calls it "the c-bomb" (2006), and Germaine Greer sees it as a word that "men throw at one another [...] you can use it like a torpedo" (Deborah Lee, 2006). Verbal weapons cause intense emotional pain. GQ has noted that "No word is more hurtful or destructive than the C-word" (2005). Catherine MacKinnon cites numerous examples of abusive language provoking distress and resulting in litigation. Asserting that "A woman worker who was referred to by a [presumed male] co-worker as a 'cunt' could present a strong case for sexual harassment" (1994), she quotes "Cavern Cunt", "stupid cunt", "fucking cunt", and "repeated use of the word 'cunt'" as phrases resulting in convictions for sexual harassment. By contrast, however, a more recent case was dismissed when it was ruled that the word 'cunt' did not constitute sexual harassment: the court concluded that the word, while being "one of the most derogatory terms for a woman", could also be regarded as complementary (Kevin Vaughan, 2004). A female student at Colorado University had alleged that another student called her a 'cunt'. Meanwhile, the University's President, Betsy Hoffman, citing Geoffrey Chaucer, defended the word as "a term of endearment" (John C Ensslin, 2004). Hoffman was ridiculed by the press, not least because the name of her university is commonly abbreviated to 'CU': "In CU President Betsy Hoffman's world [...] CU is halfway to CU**, which is just so CUte" (Mike Littwin, 2004; the article was headlined To Hoffman CU Halfway To A New Meaning). When men use the word 'cunt' to insult women, courts have deemed the act to be unlawful. When men use it to insult other men, as Julia Penelope demonstrates, their usage is still inherently insulting to women: "[words] used by men to insult other men, motherfucker, son-of-a-bitch, bastard, sissy, and cunt insult men because they're female words" (1990). 'Cunt' insults men because it acts as a verbal castration, removing their masculinity by denying them their penis, implying that having a cunt is inferior to having a cock: Signe Hammer explained that to call a man a 'cunt' "is to call him a woman: castrated" (1977).
- salutetomyshorts rated 17 months ago
- Ah.. the renowned c-bomb. Interesting justification of its use, though I still fail to see how it could ever be considered even slightly complementary. However, I applaud those that are able to offer a humble "thank you" when it's thrown at them. It must puzzle one though, that women find male "offenders" to be misogynist pigs for using such a word, while they themselves somehow hold the right to use it with no fuss. Sexual inequality to be found here, hmm?
