Badassery Magazine Issue 11 April 2017 | Page 30

“We have no word in English for this act, which is not either a long abstraction or an evasive eu- phemism, and we are constantly running away from it, or dissolv- ing into dots, at a passage like that. He [the author] wanted to say, ‘This is what one does. In a simple, ordinary way, one fucks,’ with no sniggering or dirt.” The testimony was said to have had a deciding influence on the trial. *Cue the Law and Order theme music* The difficulty with so called “vulgar” words such as shit and fuck lie not in the words them- selves, or indeed even in their meanings. The difficulty lies in the context in which they are so often used. Words such as these are most often applied as expres- sions of abuse or insult. Taken purely from that perspective, the arguments against such epithets are somewhat understandable (if a little hyper-sensitive.) Now let me throw you a “what if” scenario. What if these words be- came part of our normal lexicon, through publications, television and film, used not as tools of abuse but as simple and honest language describing near-uni- versal and quite natural acts? I think as a result we’d be health- ier people for it. Imagine school teachers using such honest language to describe the mating practices of animals, or lawyers and judges making use of fuck to describe acts in which penetra- tion is an issue. Within a genera- tion, words such as shit and fuck would have no more mysterious, embarrassing vulgarity or shame than words such as “bicycle” or “thermometer.” ture and bodily functions uni- versal to all members of Homo sapiens are neither shocking nor shameful. Cruelty and violence on the other hand, are most assuredly both shocking and shameful. The query we’re left with dear reader - and one that only you can answer for yourself - is where our priorities truly lie. When expressions of passionate emphasis or terms used to de- scribe intimacy between humans is treated with more shame than words that represent suffering and death... that’s where the real vulgarity is found, n’est pas? To put it another way, if we were to take the embarrassment and discomfiture we currently feel for these terms and shift them to words far more deserving of our acrimony and taboos, such as “kill,” or “torture,” then I think we’d a healthier society for it.  Acts of a consensual, sexual na- About the Author Mackenzie Clench is a Copywriter who works with badass and heart-centered entrepreneurs to help them share their unique “song” with the world. He is also a social observer and advocate for women’s rights. He does not, as a rule, refer to himself in the third person. Unless you’d like him to. Mackenzie can be contacted via Email or his Website - www.mackenzieclench.com.    29