CASE FILES
“Don’t be a C!”
The first time I heard that word. I was 12
years. I remember asking my father what it
meant because I did not know how to speak
English at the time. I also remember the
shock on his face when I asked him. I ended up finding out it was the slang word for
female genitalia, not from my father, but from
my 7-year-old cousin.
Now, two main things are wrong when
carefully analyzing my first interaction with
the C word. And no, the fact that my 7-yearold cousin knew what it meant is not one of
them. There is nothing wrong with knowing
the name of a particular part of the human
body. But rather, the context in which this
particular word was used.
According to the urban dictionary, it means
female genitalia. I have no problem with the
C or P word because they are just words.
Words are just words. But the importance
and the meaning we attach to those words are
what become our reality, and it can affect us
either positively or negatively.
However, the issue lies in the second meaning
of the C word, which was “coward”.
Why relate cowardice to a word for female
genitalia? What is going to happen to the
small girl that grows up in an environment
where her genitalia are constantly being used
as a synonym for cowardice?