Why is "cunt" considered to be the worst word in t

Guest   Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:31 pm GMT
Can women experience this childbearing stuff without men's sperm? God made them superior and stronger in every aspect of life that's it. Women can only dream of whatever they want.
ned   Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:35 pm GMT
in the UK, men call each other 'cunts', usually jokingly to their mates.

in the US, it's an extremely offensive disparaging term for women.
Lili   Thu Dec 24, 2009 8:37 pm GMT
>>uh, I'll pass. Thank you.<<

Well I suppose men don't feel that, so yeah you wouldn't want to. But for a woman, the knowledge that your body can produce this miracle is exciting, and it's disappointing to know it won't happen. The thing is I am in the unfortunate position of having thought I was a lesbian for the past 15 years, and so I put it to the back of my mind, I thought I just wasn't biologically programmed to have relationships with men, and so I resigned myself to not having kids. I know lesbians can still have kids artifically, but I had no plans to do that, but maybe that was because I never had a genuine relationship with a woman in all that time. Now in my mid-thirties I have fallen for a man, and see that I have heterosexuality within me. Maybe it wasn't tuned in or something, f*ck knows. But anyway, had I fallen for a man 20 years ago, I would have really looked forward to having children and the whole pregnancy process that goes with it.
truther   Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:28 pm GMT
For fuck's sake, there is no mysterious reason for that word being the most offensive.

English has a finite number of offensive words.
=>A finite subset has a minimum.
=>English has at least one most offensive word.


That's all there is to it. That it happens to be this word is just chance.
Lili   Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:42 pm GMT
truther

Of course it's not just chance, otherwise the most offensive word could be 'chair' or 'book' or 'eye'. But they aren't. Hmmm, just luck (or bad luck) that it's c*nt, eh?
Lili   Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:02 pm GMT
Or within your 'subset' of offensive words, why is the most offensive word not 'prick'? I'm sorry that's not simply a coincidence, the most offensive word was never going to refer to the male anatomy.
Real Guest   Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:09 pm GMT
It comes from Christianity. C. ideology depicts women as servants and child-bearers, while men are the rulers (since god is a man). Therefore; a woman is a vehicle for production of Christian soldiers, a container, a uterus, a cunt.
symposium   Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:27 pm GMT
<<Or within your 'subset' of offensive words, why is the most offensive word not 'prick'? I'm sorry that's not simply a coincidence, the most offensive word was never going to refer to the male anatomy. >>


There are plenty of languages where the most offensive word is not female anatomy.

Besides, it is not so much the idea of a cunt that is offensive, but rather there must be something about that particular word that makes it offensive. Otherwise why are pussy or minge not as offensive, since they refer to the exact same thing?
Lili   Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:39 pm GMT
>>Besides, it is not so much the idea of a cunt that is offensive, but rather there must be something about that particular word that makes it offensive. Otherwise why are pussy or minge not as offensive, since they refer to the exact same thing? <<

I guess it just shows the mixed feelings surrounding it. I've thought about this, different words referring to the same thing have a totally different significance:

Fanny, pussy, vagina, cunt.

They all refer to the same thing, yet have very different associations. In British English:

Fanny - a bit amusing, harmless, not particularly sexual
Pussy - very sexual connotation
Vagina - clinical, a bit embarrassing
Cunt - hugely offensive or hugely sexual
Jane   Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:40 pm GMT
This thread is making me thirsty.
Some other guest   Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:02 pm GMT
Words are given their "offensive" value by the people who are offended, not the people who want to offend.

So you need to ask people who are shocked by "cunt" why they're shocked.

They're the people who make it an insult.
Lili   Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:06 pm GMT
Not really, you learn the meaning of words through your experience of life. No child knows 'cunt' is supposed to be offensive, they learn it at some point because of society's values.
Some other guest   Thu Dec 24, 2009 11:34 pm GMT
That proves my point. They learn to agree that it's offensive, i.e. they learn to make it offensive.

"Society's values" is a nonsensical phrase, by the way.
Leasnam   Fri Dec 25, 2009 6:18 pm GMT
<<Otherwise why are pussy or minge not as offensive, since they refer to the exact same thing? >>

Good point.
I suppose that having more than one term for a female's genitals allowed one to fill the void of "most offensive word". And it happened to be 'cunt'.
daveyboy   Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:15 pm GMT
In the uk "Cunt" can be used in a joke or more strong, depends on who you say it to.. EG.. Daft cunt, Silly Cunt, but Bastard or prick or even twat can be said strong..