CELEBRATING THE F-WORD
I've been dropping a lot of F-bombs. Lately my blog posts have been peppered with them. In fact, that particular grouping of three consonants arranged around a single vowel -- whose short sound curiously resembles the utterance of those in the throes of orgasm -- has become such a staple of my writing, I'm beginning to wonder if I suffer from a case of literary Tourette's Syndrome.
Oh, I know it's a word -- much like "love" and "genius" -- that's used far too frequently; abused, misapplied (noun, verb and adjective). Remember Lenny Bruce? Lenny once said that he wished everyone would start using the "N-word." That he wished then President Kennedy would go on TV and repeat it over, and over, and over. Because if he did that, if everyone did that, the word would be rendered meaningless; lose all its shock value; its ability to wound. Lenny was right. Use a word often enough and its power dissipates. Ask any writer. Why then do we persist in using the word "fuck?"
Think of all the times that single word has been uttered? ... Just think of all the times you've used it! I sometimes imagine all those collective "fucks" have gone into the Aether like radio waves or television signals; somehow coalesced, forming one great cosmic expletive at the center of our galaxy -- like a massive black hole.
But, truth be told, "fuck" is something so much more than just a dirty word. It's a word of protest; of freedom and liberty. A word that people like Lenny Bruce and Henry Miller paid dearly for using, so that no one might censure our right to free speech -- or ban us from reading a book (ANY book!) Sounds incredible now, but saying (or writing) the word "fuck" could once land you in jail.
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Henry Miller's novel, "Tropic of Cancer," was not obscene -- lifting a 30 year ban on the book (first published in France in 1934) that sent booksellers, publishers, or anyone sending or receiving the book via U.S. mail, to prison. And not just Miller's book: Vladimir Nabokov's, "Lolita;" D.H. Lawrence's, "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and the writings of the Marquis de Sade, to name just a few.
So, let's celebrate the "F-word." As Lenny Bruce once said, "Take away the right to say 'fuck' and you take away the right to say 'fuck' the government."
Tropic of CancerLolitaLady Chatterley's Lover
Oh, I know it's a word -- much like "love" and "genius" -- that's used far too frequently; abused, misapplied (noun, verb and adjective). Remember Lenny Bruce? Lenny once said that he wished everyone would start using the "N-word." That he wished then President Kennedy would go on TV and repeat it over, and over, and over. Because if he did that, if everyone did that, the word would be rendered meaningless; lose all its shock value; its ability to wound. Lenny was right. Use a word often enough and its power dissipates. Ask any writer. Why then do we persist in using the word "fuck?"
Think of all the times that single word has been uttered? ... Just think of all the times you've used it! I sometimes imagine all those collective "fucks" have gone into the Aether like radio waves or television signals; somehow coalesced, forming one great cosmic expletive at the center of our galaxy -- like a massive black hole.
But, truth be told, "fuck" is something so much more than just a dirty word. It's a word of protest; of freedom and liberty. A word that people like Lenny Bruce and Henry Miller paid dearly for using, so that no one might censure our right to free speech -- or ban us from reading a book (ANY book!) Sounds incredible now, but saying (or writing) the word "fuck" could once land you in jail.
In 1964, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Henry Miller's novel, "Tropic of Cancer," was not obscene -- lifting a 30 year ban on the book (first published in France in 1934) that sent booksellers, publishers, or anyone sending or receiving the book via U.S. mail, to prison. And not just Miller's book: Vladimir Nabokov's, "Lolita;" D.H. Lawrence's, "Lady Chatterley's Lover" and the writings of the Marquis de Sade, to name just a few.
So, let's celebrate the "F-word." As Lenny Bruce once said, "Take away the right to say 'fuck' and you take away the right to say 'fuck' the government."
Tropic of CancerLolitaLady Chatterley's Lover
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