How cussing became a sign of the undignified
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It was recently found that people who swear a lot might be more intelligent than others. They certainly seem more expressive than others and they just make any conversation feel more real. To be honest, the way swearing is looked down upon across the globe is a sign of the remaining Victorian morality, which was hypocritical, a fact that is well established. The idea that swearing is bad was tied up with the idea that it makes you an undignified member of society not worthy of the standards of the monarchy, and therefore the act was considered that of an unrefined person.
Gender roles and their hypocrisy make cussing complicated
Add a woman who cusses to the mixture and it suddenly became about virtue, not just of the woman but also the society. Women have always been made into people who have to uphold the moral standards and therefore have to behave in a stricter moral code than the men. This is part of the reason why a woman smoking a cigarette offends people more, even if itโs none of their damn business. A woman who cusses, therefore, is often perceived as a โboldโ woman โ a loaded term that brings into question her morality and virtues. The same rules, of course, donโt apply to the men, who if they cuss are hotheaded studs who are just cooler when they swear.
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โOh you cuss in spite of being a girl?โ
While this obvious sexism is not thought of with clarity, it is often one of the thoughts men have when their girlfriend cusses (women do have this same thought but weโre talking about men specifically here). The line โTu ladki hokar bhi galiyan deti haiโ (You cuss in spite of being a womanโ), is said admiringly or in surprise without realising how ridiculous and bigoted that statement sounds. It takes for granted a manโs right to cuss, as if saying โfuck youโ loudly is only possible because of the male anatomy! We wonโt even go into the gendered words used in cuss words, because thatโs a whole new article in itself.
โ A girl who cusses is attractive!โ
Then there are the fetishisers. People who think itโs hot or cool or sexy or attractive when you cuss. Yes, I get it, someone whoโs free with their expression is attractive, but sometimes guys find this cussing thing attractive to a point where it feels like they think cussing means a woman whoโll be easy. Someone theyโll be able to get with without much effort. Nothing could be farther from the truth, of course. Cussing doesnโt mean either of these things.
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โThe logical reactionโ
What cussing does mean, is that a woman likes to use words which are colourful, just the way a man does, and that is about it. There are, of course, good men who see this for what it is. When their partner cusses and says โFuck yeah!โ they think โ Damn right!โ and move the fuck on because thatโs the only logical reaction.
Overuse of swear words defeats the purpose
Another reaction a few men have to their lady swearing is one that is shared by many people about cussing in general. You see, cussing is great, itโs like seasoning for language, but if overused, the words of a person tend to get salty and just unpleasant. Swear words ought to be things that add oomph to oneโs speech, not become crutches. When they do become crutches, most people tend to think that it makes a person, in this case, a womanโs speech sound immature and unimportant. If you look at language, it was created to express emotions and swear words are meant to highlight the emotions. Use them too much and it becomes like crying wolf.
Swearing is for everybody!
Speaking about swearing in general, it is a great tool when used with restraint. Unfortunately, due to the hypocrisy of gender roles, the simple of act of emphasising while speaking becomes political. Men sometimes think their girlfriendsโ swearing is unladylike, because of their societal conditioning. They sometimes also donโt give a fuck and treat it like the swearing of any other person. And yet we all swear a lot on a daily basis. Swearing is a phenomenon that is studied in linguistics. It is hated, frowned upon, celebrated by people of all genders across the world. What remains true through all of this is that, for those of us who donโt frown upon cursing, no matter what gender we are, it just feels fucking great.