Cursing up much ado about nothing

In Iowa, saying the world "gay" loudly is more likely to get a stare than saying the word "fuck." Believe me, I know...I tried it in a series of unscientific experiments this weekend (one must find some way of entertaining oneself in Des Moines).

So it's not at all surprising to me that the Washington Post is reporting that children are cursing more these days. After all, the traditional curse words were taboo because of their bad meanings. "Ass," "shit," and "fuck" are all taboo because of a very Victorian disdain far the natural functions of the body. Originally, one couldn't even say the word "pregnant" on television. We have (more sensibly, I think) abandoned such a disdain. Though many are who are understandably uncomfortable with kids talking about sex, there's no reason kids, who at least have first-hand knowledge of their own bodies, shouldn't be allowed to talk about "shit" and "ass."

Besides, all curse words have a short shelf-life in a culture that thrives on shock value. As the use of curse words becomes more abstracted ("Fuck! I missed the bus!"), our curse words will change.

But more importantly, a new set of curse words is growing. I hate to post-modernize and historicize curse words, but it's idiotic to think that curse words won't change in reflection of the values of the society in which they're used. In reality, the use of derogatory terms such as "n-gg--," "f-gg--," and "k-k-" really is taboo. These words will be the new curse words, whose use really is quite inappropriate (to the point that even I am not willing to spell them out). Eventually (50? 100 years?), they will lose their original significance, as discrimination (hopefully) becomes less of a problem, and ther original signifiers will become abstracted, as children (sigh, precocious tykes) will use them for their shock value.

So, conservative so-and-so's at the Washington Post (read: bible-thumpers from Northern Virginia), get over it.