Tuesday, January 24, 2012

How the Brits are ruining the C-word* for everyone

Earlier today I was writing about the crass and vulgar way the Brits treat sex. A really good example of this, if you'll pardon me, is how the Brits have ruined the C-word for everyone.  For them it is just a term of anger and hatred. Jarvis Cocker has a song called "C___ts are still running the world" and, contrary to what you might guess, it's a song about politics. For him all the C-word means is an evil or stupid person. Anywhere else that title would be taken as an expression of women's sexual power. That the word now means nothing more to him than what we in North America mean when we say "asshole" tells you how little the Brits value sex; for them, it is just another crude bodily function.

Ironically enough, it's part of the British national mythology to think of themselves as terribly uptight about sex: "No sex please we're British". But the truth is they aren't uptight enough about it. Whether they are restricted or unrestricted about sex, the Brits always think of it as a crude bodily function and not as something exalted. You cannot even begin to appreciate sex unless you acknowledge the power and sacredness of women's sexuality. That is why the Brits always have to turn to either Americans or the French to get their ideas of what is sexy.

The reason that Jarvis Cocker wrote a song as crass and awful as "C__ts are still ruling the world" is because they do not, in fact, rule his world.


*No I won't spell it out. I think the word has it's place but this blog isn't it. And I already get enough people finding this site  by entering search strings that creep me out into Google as it is thank you.

1 comment:

  1. Please tell me you've actually been to Britain (though I think you mean England). No-one in Britain pretends to have a prudish attitude towards sex, but we're no more promiscuous than any other country either. It's actually considered rude and none of our business what two consenting adults do in their spare time. Some women value their bodies more than others...it's not my problem what they choose to do with them. The c-word is rude and offensive in Britain, but it's not considered sexist. The word is used out of context just as the f-word is. Doesn't make it right, perhaps, but it's just a difference in culture. FYI I'm a Brit engaged to an American.

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