Quote:
Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
The stigma is owing to the synecdoche. For a man to be summarized as his own genitals is a backhanded compliment; for a woman it is a vague threat of rape or other dehumanization.
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You don't think that's a bit of a sexist explanation? A man can handle the use of an insult a woman can't? There's something about the sound of it. Think of all the worst slurs. They all have that short, crisp, blunt sound to them. I think there's a certain "extra insult" implied when the word is so short and uncreative that it sounds like the speaker couldn't even be bothered to consider the subject more than a couple thrown together consonants with the obligatory vowel slapped in the middle.
I think that's why "fuck" had such a stigma for so long. It's the cheapest word imaginable. And isn't that the real crux of the insult? That somebody took something of such social importance to so many and reduced it so brutally?
ETA: Yes, I'm aware of fuck's alleged administrative derivation. However, throughout history there have been endless words for that act, and none had been considered so taboo.
