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I can’t tell you how many times I have been somewhere and heard young girls (16 and under) using the word “fuck” as if it was a perfectly acceptable word. In fact, I counted how many times a young girl in the line at the grocery store used the word on her cell phone. It hit twenty before I stopped. 

Young men and women use vulgarity so regularly it ceases to be vulgar. I weep for them. What words can you use to express yourself when vulgarity or curse words have become ordinary? Vulgar and once offensive words inundate modern music.

I remember when Jim Croce put out Bad, Bad Leroy Brown. It was dubbed for the radio because it used the word damn. The same for Charlie Daniel’s The Devil Went Down to Georgia. The word damn is considered so mild these days no one uses it. Not when there is a plethora of other words available. 

Which brings to mind what makes a word offensive? Let’s look at the word nigger. The word when spoken out loud makes people so uncomfortable they shrink from it. It is a racist word. Derived from the Spanish word for black.

But is it offensive to all? When it was discovered Paula Dean said the word thirty years ago in Georgia she lost everything due to the uproar that a white woman would use the word. How dare she? Walmart pulled all her products, books, etc. from their shelves and her television show was canceled.

The backlash was incredible. The world vilified Paula Dean but? Yes, there is a but here. On Walmart’s shelves were several rap artists who use the word as if it’s a normal part of their vocabulary. Music Walmart refused to pull from their shelves. Said the music had a disclaimer on it. Does this make the word acceptable?

What bothered me about all of this was the very same people who vilified Paula Dean praised those who used the word in music. Praised them as acceptable. Is this right? A word is either offensive or it is not. No exceptions.

It is either a racist word and needs to be removed from popular usage or ignored. Period. The same for any other racist word. Did we forget about those? I have heard the word cracker, a word denigrating white people, reemerge from the past. The same for other racist words like wop, kike, spic.

I have no time for racism, sexism, ageism, or any other ism out there. However, you can’t have it both ways. Or can you? Take the word bitch. As a child it was the second worst word you could call a woman. Cunt being the absolute worst word to call any woman. Even today no one accepts the word cunt as anything but offensive. It is offensive. 

Yet, bitch isn’t. Somewhere along the line the word bitch has become an acceptable word to use to describe a woman. “She’s a badass bitch” is a line I hear often. There are so many other words which have become popular and acceptable but are in fact based in vulgarity, racism, sexual slander, etc.

Does it mean anyone who uses any of these words is racist or sexist? Well, the list of labels goes on and on but, the question is valid. When does a word become vulgar? When do you stop using them or decide to put aside correctness in polite company and decide you don’t give a fuck?

The answer is yours and yours alone. I am perhaps one of the worst when it comes to vulgarity and curse words. I speak curse word fluently. It is a part of my makeup. However, I was raised with manners, courtesy, and respect. Often with a whip or a belt.

 

I was taught to give these things. Taught to speak politely in front of women and those who I might offend. This is courtesy at its heart. Respect of others and respect of self. 

I find the use of vulgarity and other offensive words as the norm unappealing. What about you?

I’m Ross, the Editor-in-Chief at The Pyrateheart Press and I’m out.