Any of you who know me reasonably well know that I’ve long held the idea of words, any words, being obscene through utterance alone to be patently absurd. Words communicate ideas and one word vs. another holds no more or less value through comparison.
The value, obscenity and meaning of words come from their use to convey ideas. Shit shouldn’t be any more offensive than poop or feces as they all invoke the same idea. The only reason shit is found offensive by some is that someone told them this word was offensive. Someone taught them that using the word shit would be more disturbing than using other words to name the same thing.
So what’s the big deal? Who cares?
We accept this. We allow others to determine what language is unacceptable for use without question or protest. Why? Why don’t we stop, think and question such a ridiculous concept? It is an underlying mentality of wanting to be led through life and stay with the herd rather than forge our own paths, think for ourselves and come to our own decisions regarding right and wrong.
We force others to accept this. We teach our children words are bad. We shame our peers who use these words, accusing them of having limited vocabulary, being crude and low-class and unworthy of association. We make laws against using certain words, in spite of claiming that one of our most precious rights, protected by our most revered Constitution, is the freedom to use the words we want. The reality is, we are free to use the words we want as long as the person next to us isn’t offended. This is apparently a great sin and should you commit it, you can and will be subject to legal action.
So, this federal appeals court decision is a no-brainer for me and long overdue. I sincerely hope it’s a step in the direction of genuinely free speech.
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@Rockin’ – I know what you mean. We’ve all got it, to some extent. I occasionally find myself apologizing for bad language in spite of the fact that I don’t believe it to be bad – mostly because I don’t actually want people to be uncomfortable or offended. It’s hard to get past our socialization, no doubt about it.
I agree with this, but I can’t help but grimace when my 5 year old little cousin says “Fuck you” to her great grandmother. Is that societal programming? Yeah. She could say some nonsensical 5-year-old word combination like “Chair boxes!” and still mean the same thing. She’s still angry. She’s still being a disrespectful little brat. But it wouldn’t make me grimace as much. *sigh*
Rockin’ with a Cock in recently posted..Slow-to-boil
AMEN SISTER!!!