Unit Six Post - Profanity: When is it Powerful and When is it a Crutch?

After being exposed to many texts that are classified as comedy in this course, I have been thinking a lot about profanity. Profanity is definitely a part of some (or many?) comedy acts as well as many popular films. Carmen Esposito uses the f word in Rape Jokes. Tina Fey talks about Amy Poehler being criticized for using vulgarity in Bossypants. However, in these situations I was not particularly bothered by the profanity. I think profanity was for these women a part of reclaiming their power. 

Here is actress Maggie Smith claiming her power in the film The Quartet. 

I was brought up not to swear, and was taught that using profane language is bad manners, rude, vulgar, and low class. Obviously, as I have gotten older, it has become my choice whether or not to use profanity, both in my writing and my speech. While sometimes I do enjoy using profanity simply for the sense of freedom and rebellion it gives me (as do we all at times, I think) I definitely try to know my audience. For example, I make it a habit to not use curse words around my parents, my grandmother, my boyfriend's parents, strangers or my boss, or in my academic writing. However, recently I have been reevaluating my stance on profanity. 

I do not dislike vulgar language because I think it is unladylike, although it is in the traditional sense (and there is nothing wrong with wanting to be ladylike or unladylike!). Instead, I have begun to dislike vulgar language more and more simply because it is vulgar. 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word vulgar as "lacking in cultivation", "undeveloped" and "generally used", which is a definition I associate with the word "common." In the process of pondering profanity I asked myself, do I want your material (comic or otherwise) to be "generally used?" Or do you want to say something fresh, intelligent and specific? 

I have begun to think that maybe my parents were (a little bit) right all those years ago when they reiterated time and time again that those who have manners and class (read class as self-respect and respect for others, not money) do not curse, at least not very often. I think in addition that my years in the service industry have led me to dislike swearing. I can't tell you how many times customers at one waitressing or barista job or another have said "fuck you" to me or worse. I guess the older I get the more I seek kindness and gentleness from others and aspire to be those things myself. 

This is how I feel when people are unkind and hateful. 

Sometimes as a woman and a writer and a person I want to use profanity in my writing or speech, as a way of claiming some of my power. But from now on, I would like to use profanity more consciously, if I do, and purposefully. 

I think in part I loved Tig Notaro's special Happy to Be Here because it let her personality and sense of humor shine, without resorting to the crutch of profanity, or shouting or aggression (which are all fine and sometimes powerful). I think I can also chalk it up to my personal tastes that I prefer subtlety to a heavy hand. I think to make the use of curse words truly funny, you have to use them in a new way. I often find them tired and uninspired, and I challenge writers and comedians of the next generation to throw off the crutch of vulgar language. 

In addition, I think it is important to consider how often vulgarity and profanity are directed at women in society, and how using less profanity could be a very feminist action. Scholar Ye Joo Han talks about this in her Ted Talk, which you can read here. On the other hand, claiming vulgarity, which men have done for years, could be a feminist action as well.

I do agree that sometimes profanity can be a powerful tool to shock people into listening. I also acknowledge that not everyone may hold the same ideas about profanity as me, and that not everyone may be privileged enough to have the time to think about their use of profanity or to be around a group of people who speak politely (like I said, I and many people are surrounded by profanity at work on a daily basis). 

In general, however, I think that profanity is overused, and that many of us have lost the ability to read situations and audiences and then make a thoughtful decision about when to use it. In the future, I will be striving to use profanity only thoughtfully and purposefully (and okay, maybe sometimes just because I feel like it).