Weekly Research (11): Profanity

I left all of the socialising until last like the massive socialite that I am, and of course this means that my last two posts for the session will be responses to other people. I'm relying on you guys to not work until the last minute, I better see a relevant post for this week by tomorrow!

This week's victim was Ayla, and partially Jess. My comment can be found here, and follows below:

I agree that it is difficult to know what purpose profanity actually serves, as it serves too many for an answer to be definitive. Profanity has even been shown to lessen the amount of pain felt; it’s also used to create solidarity between people. So, Robinson and Zimmerman have it right to call it a ‘language intensifier’, as that is essentially, in its basic form, what it seems to be. However, if it intensifies language then why can using a swear word dull an argument?

I tend to believe that one’s argument falls when swearing is used, as if it ‘dumbs down’ an argument and its user. It seems that any points raised are nonsensical, as any passionate argument ceases to be worthy of serious consideration. I’ve even found that one can write quite an insulting email or letter without using a single swear word, because it’s true, once someone begins to swear it often becomes nonsense and demeans its user.

As an aside to Jess (not to single you out!), I agree that cunt degrades the person using it and it’s a word that properly demonstrates how one swear word may hold a lot more meaning than say, fuck or shit which as Ayla says, has become embedded into everyday use. These words have socially constructed meaning, and the social significance attached to these words varies. I find that there’s something about cunt being inherently sexual in its vulgarity, that I can’t help but feel mixed emotions when it is used. This is probably due to the fact that cunt refers to the vagina, and even my saying of ‘vagina’ has probably had the same impact as an expletive – in that it probably had a direct, emotional impact. So it’s not just ‘swear words’ that are ‘dirty’ words.

I must confess that I have used the word cunt and in doing so; I have torn arguments down into silence. I know it to be a very powerful word and the shock one receives when using it does enforce one to curb its use, but is that a good thing? That the worst kind of swear word just happens to be directly related to women? I could write a thesis paper on this, but I must keep it as a comment, so I shall end here. Good day.