Why is the "F-bomb" such a taboo and extreme word, especially if sex is casual and pleasurable?
I learned to simply flip the bird when I was twelve. Because it was easy, and honestly the only thing some people understand. Calling someone a ‘Toad Tush” or arguing with them or just saying ‘darn it’ just doesn’t get it.
Today, the F-word is shouted by twelve year olds and gangstas alike. But I still don’t understand why ‘Fuck’ and the concepts around it are such an insult.
‘Shit’ is indeed an offensive word—but is lesser and weaker than ‘fuck’,
yet “Fuck you” in truth sounds like wishing someone a good sexual experience. And sex today is about as casual and common as watching a good movie.
Admittedly, calling someone a racist, or, covertly, calling someone a racial slur is worse than saying ‘Fuck You!”—the F-bomb, really just meaning sex, is top of the pile. Why is that?
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Probably because the society we live in seems to believe that sex should neither be casual or pleasurable and any attempts to make it so are met with anger and vitriol.
I remember seeing a poster when I was in college. As I recall it showed the cast of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” and said “If you can’t fuck a friend, who can you fuck?” After all these years I still remember that and what a revelation it was to read that and realize that in our society we make that such a bad thing; sex with strangers is more acceptable than that.
I think that the reason “fuck you ” is insulting, while misplaced, is because of the implied “I” as in “I fuck you!’ with the implications of forced sex and rape. We do live in a very patriarchal society and the belief that the male is dominant implies that, as a male, you have the power to decide. A “fucker” is more powerful than a “fuckee” and power is what it is all about. Males dominate females. You don’t hear of females raping males very often.
I am ignorant of how it is within the female hierarchy but I have read that in environments, such as prison, where you have a single gender, if you are the fucker you are not considered gay whereas if you are the one being fucked, you are. Not right but human nature?
Why is the “F-bomb” such a taboo and extreme word, especially if sex is casual and pleasurable?
‘Shit’ is indeed an offensive word
Haven’t you ever taken a shit that felt good?
Fuck is a great word when used appropriately.
I read an essay a long time ago about the word “fuck”. It comes from the German word “gluck” which means to strike. Fuck can be used in a variety of ways but it’s mostly used in a vulgar descriptive term/insult. Fuck means more than just having sex as it carries with it an absolute put down. For example, you could say, “Fuck you!” which bacically mean eat shit an die. Or a girl or guy is, “...a fine fuck!” which is a non-violent but derogatory. Fuck is always there to help blow off steam when anything goes wrong and can be directed at the world in general or a person place or thing in particular.
It’s supposed to be pleasurable and casual, but that really mostly applies to men. Women get called all kinds of slut names if they have casual sex. It’s a love / hate thing we have with sex. Too many hang ups still surround sex.
People inevitably confer taboos on certain words, and that gives them special power. Sex seems to be the source of the most powerful ones. When their effectiveness weakens or disappears (and so it’s no longer shocking to hear them in the workplace, the classroom, the church, the halls of government), other words will take their place.
To paraphrase George Carlin, you can say “prick my finger”, but not “finger my prick.”
You can fuck me but you can’t fuck my daughter!
The F-word used as an expletive or curse or insult does not mean a casual pleasurable sexual encounter. It does not mean “May you have a casual pleasurable sexual encounter!”
@Zako I agree with you, I certainly don’t think of it like that. I never direct the word at a person, it is a lazy insult, I think, as if you can’t think of anything more specific. I often use it, on its own, as a way of letting off steam. It’s a great word for that, but not for directing at people, in my opinion.
@Zaku Exactly. If someone’s in my face saying F you, they’ll get a big surprise and it’s guaranteed not to be a pleasurable experience.
On the other hand, flipping me the bird (as in traffic) is just saying ‘watch what you’re doing a-hole’, which I don’t get upset about.
In some offices the F bomb is dropped quite often and is becoming a real problem because some people, let’s say religious folks, take offense while other folks take it much more casually as a figure of speech. Perhaps like some jellies who casually throw out racist, not knowing that some of us are highly offended by even the suggestion of being such.
I’m not normally offended by profanity, unless that seems to be the majority of the sentence.
e.g. Mutha Fuka piss MY ass like SHIT, mutha fuka gay-as nigga mutha fuka.
But I have no problem with, “I already have a goddamn prescription. NOW they’re saying I need to go back and get a fuckin’ Prior Authorization or some shit.. What the fuck ?”
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