Reclaiming P U S S Y on International Women's Day 2014

[RonTheLogician]

Hello Danny,

For whatever reason, I notice that you have at least once expressed distress at the anatomical use of the word p u s s y. I'm glad that you have a sense of humor about the subject, as this makes me optimistic I might reduce or even quench your anxieties on this subject - which I frankly find rather curious. Anyway, this is the sole reason I am making this post. Perhaps other people will offer additional suggestions on how we can work together to detoxify words which should simply be descriptive, and not hurtful or degrading.

It happens that the Scandinavian countries have played a key role in liberalizing popular knowledge about, and acceptance of, sexuality. e.g. Denmark was the first country in the world to legitimize written pornography in 1967, followed by pictorial pornography in 1969. As for Sweden,

...the Swedish Association for Sex Education (Riksf?rbundet f?r sexuellupplysning, RFSU)... was founded in 1933... The RFSU had a broad programme: its principle demands included the abolition of the [anti-] Contraceptive Law, free contraceptives for the poor, the establishment of guidance bureaux throughout the country, the right to abortion, and the decriminalization of homosexual acts. But its foremost aim was for the introduction of sex education in all schools and educational establishments.

from Chapter 4, Shaping Sexual Knowledge - A Cultural History of Sex Education in Twentieth Century Europe (Routledge 2008)

Today, the RFSU describes itself this way:

RFSU, the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education, is a politically and religiously independent organization dedicated to promoting an unprejudiced and open-minded attitude to sex and relationship issues... RFSU is a non-profit organisation independent of any political party or religion. We are dedicated to promoting a well-informed, open-minded attitude to sexuality and relationship issues.

SEX: YOUR OWN WAY - A booklet about sex for teens (RFSU 2013) writes the following:

There are a huge number of nicknames for genitals... Some words fit in one context and others in another, which is why we need several different words... It can also be good to use words that everyone understands, like p u s s y and c o c k. These are common words that many people associate with sex and arousal. Everyone knows that these words can be used negatively sometimes. Words like p u s s y and c o c k can be used as insults that cause varying degrees of offence. Many people are not comfortable with all the available words, and we should respect that, but here at RFSU, we think that p u s s y and c o c k are basically positive words, because they also include the outer parts of the genitals, which are so important for sexual pleasure.

And in Pussypedia: What every woman needs to know about her genitals (RFSU 2008), author Tina Nevin adds:

Why Pussypedia? Since not every woman uses the word p u s s y to refer to her genitals, some people might think I have chosen this title to be provocative... There is a lack of strong, positive words for the female genitalia, and those that do exist are often used as terms of abuse. This was my reasoning in using the title Pussypedia. I believe that women need a sexual name for their genitals, and that it is up to women to lay claim to the word p u s s y, or the name used in any language with the same sexual value, and free it from the more offensive sense in which it refers to a woman as a sex object...

Which words and manners of verbal expression are conventionally offensive or insulting has varied tremendously over time. Very few people know this! Finally, in 2013 Britain's venerable Oxford University Press issued a wonderful, new, scholarly 336-page book titled Holy Sh*t - A Brief History of Swearing. Anyone who has found themselves distressed by the use of a taboo word, or has merely wondered how such a taboo ever emerged, would be greatly edified by reading this book, available for the Kindle from Amazon at just under $10. My only problem with the book's title is that I think it would have been more faithful to its contents had it instead been Holy F*cking Sh*t!

- The seriously too cute RtL

[danielle_ftv]

Hmmm...that word doesn't bother me nowadays. Surprisingly enough there are some instances were I can be slightly prudish. Even though the word doesn't bother me you will rarely hear me use that term when shooting (or at all in my personal life)....at least I think that's the case (I may be wrong though since random things spout out of my mouth in the heat of the moment).

[Index-of-Beauty Ben]

**** is one of the oldest words in the English language, too. It comes from Celtic. I highly suggest you look that one up in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to see its derivatives, as well.

[Index-of-Beauty Ben]

c u n t

[RonTheLogician]

Originally Posted by danielle_ftv

...Even though the word doesn't bother me you will rarely hear me use that term when shooting (or at all in my personal life)....

Well then, what is your favorite word for your collective down-there lady parts? I've always thought that "vulva" sounds so medical. (Apparently it is a cognate of "revolve," as in to enclose by rolling up.) But marketing mavens sure have gotten a lot of mileage out of the word. Two examples:

1. Many decades ago, an after-shave lotion for men called Aqua Velva was heavily advertised on US TV. One was told that its primary virtue was the effect (evidently romantic) which it had on women, as related in the video ad here. No one should think that its resemblance to the phrase Aqua (i.e. wet) Vulva was an accident!

2. In the same era a famous print ad showed a water skier being towed (at roughly waist height) by an automobile running along the adjacent shoreline. The caption simply read: This woman is being towed by her Volvo.

I'll leave the final word to pioneer jilling evangelist Dr. Betty Dodson and her latter-day associate, Carlin Ross, Esq. in the video here.

The vagina is not the vulva, but I could find no chart for "vulva"!

[RonTheLogician]

Originally Posted by RonTheLogician

...SEX: YOUR OWN WAY - A booklet about sex for teens (RFSU 2013) writes the following:

There are a huge number of nicknames for genitals... Some words fit in one context and others in another, which is why we need several different words... It can also be good to use words that everyone understands, like p u s s y and c o c k...

A propos of this recommendation, I defer to Britain's too-little-known Ivor Biggun, some of whose music bemoans the problem of keeping track of his beloved pets. Enjoy:

P_ussy!

The Cockerel Song

[RonTheLogician]

Today I ran across an interesting "big data" analysis tool. It searches a collection of nearly a million porn video clip titles, allowing you to explore the popularity of various words in the titles, and how they have varied over a half-decade interval. I immediately thought about this thread and so set out to find out of the popularity of various terms for humankind's "naughty bits." You can plot the results for up to ten words at a time, so I chose four terms for male bits and six for female bits.

The results, shown in the graphic below, are very dramatic! Three words dominate, and in a very decisive, consistent order over all the years. Starting with the most popular, in order they are C O C K, then P U S S Y and finally D I C K. All the other words are dramatically less popular. They include not only the English medical names - penis, vulva, vagina, labia and clit (clitoris doesn't do any better), but "dirty" words like P R I C K and C U N T. I realize only now I didn't try balls - maybe I didn't have the balls for it?