Fuck: Word Taboo and Protecting our First Amendment Liberties

274 Pages·2009·8.3 MB·English

by  Christopher Fairman

FUCK
Word Taboo and Protecting
Our First Amendment Liberties
C h r i sT O Ph e r M . FAi rM An
Sphinx® publiShing
An imprint of SourcebookS, inc.®
nAperville, illinoiS
www.SphinxLegal.com
Fuck.indd 1 7/13/09 10:31:11 AM
Copyright © 2009 by Christopher M. Fairman
Cover and internal design © 2009 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover design by Cyanotype Book Architects
Cover Image © iStockphoto.com/leva
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without
permission in writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information
in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that
the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional
service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a
competent professional person should be sought.—From a Declaration of
Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a
Committee of Publishers and Associations.
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered
trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not
associated with any product or vendor in this book.
Published by Sphinx Publishing, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567-4410
[phone]
Fax: [phone]
www.sourcebooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fairman, Christopher M.
Fuck : word taboo and protecting our First Amendment liberties / Christopher
M. Fairman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Obscenity (Law)—United States. 2. Freedom of speech—United States. 3.
Fuck (The English word) 4. Taboo, Linguistic. I. Title.
KF9444.F35 2009
342.7308’53—dc22
2009016762
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Fuck.indd 2 7/13/09 10:31:11 AM
For my daughter, Mallory Claire Fairman,
in the hopes that she will say it
less and understand it more.
Fuck.indd 3 7/13/09 10:31:11 AM
Fuck.indd 4 7/13/09 10:31:11 AM
Contents
Prologue ......................................vii
Chapter One: Why Fuck? ..........................1
Chapter Two: Ubiquitous Fuck .....................13
Chapter Three: The Power of Taboo .................25
Chapter Four: Fuck Etymology .....................33
Chapter Five: Linguistics, Psycholinguistics,
and Taboo .................................43
Chapter Six: Fuck Fetish ..........................55
Chapter Seven: Fuck Jurisprudence .................69
Chapter Eight: Them’s Fighting Words! ..............81
Chapter Nine: Obscenity—They Know It When
They See It .................................93
Chapter Ten: “Fuck the Draft”: Offensive
and Vulgar Speech ..........................105
Fuck.indd 5 7/13/09 10:31:12 AM
Chapter Eleven: Pacifica, a Pig in the Parlor,
and Powell ................................115
Chapter Twelve: Profanity, Private Ryan,
and a Prada Purse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Chapter Thirteen: Genderspeak and the Workplace ....149
Chapter Fourteen: Tinker’s Armband,
But Not Cohen’s Coat .......................159
Chapter Fifteen: Fuck in Teacher Speech ............173
Chapter Sixteen: Fuck Forever ....................185
Acknowledgments .............................193
Endnotes ....................................199
Index .......................................245
About the Author ..............................249
Fuck.indd 6 7/13/09 10:31:12 AM
Prologue
This is a book about the word fuck and its intersection with
the law and the concept of taboo. In the first chapter,
“Why Fuck?” I explain why I didn’t sanitize the title. I applaud
my publisher and editors for supporting this decision.
Because of this title, my book will likely be the target of
many a giggle from middle schoolers. Some parents may
shield their kids’ eyes. Those same youthful eyes could
just as easily end up reading this book under the covers by
flashlight—drawn to it by the very taboo that makes fuck a
dirty word.
I know that feeling. It was 1971 when my parents brought
home David Reuben’s bestseller, Everything You Always
Wanted to Know About Sex* (But Were Afraid to Ask). It was
not so hidden in the bottom of my parents’ nightstand on the
right side. I used to sneak it out, read it under the covers or in
Fuck.indd 7 7/13/09 10:31:12 AM
viii FUCK
the bathroom, then sneak it back into place. I got lax on one
of those trips to the bathroom and stashed it under the sink…
and then forgot about it. Later, when Mom was cleaning,
she found it. That night at dinner, she revealed her alarming
discovery. Looking straight at my big brother Mark, she let
the table know that she found the book and had returned it
to its proper place and whoever had taken it should stop. Big
brother had all he could stand of the accusatory glare and
said, “It wasn’t me, ask Chris.”
The shock brought the whole subtle reprimand to a halt.
I was not quite eleven, so Mark’s “not me” defense was no
guarantee of exoneration. I could have shifted blame back on
him with a simple lie. Instead, I didn’t look up from my fried
chicken. My silence was my confession.
The memory of that dinnertime inquisition didn’t resurface
until I was writing this book. At eleven, I remember I had no
difficulty digesting the chapters of my curiosity. I’m confident
I would be a more informed reader today, but this taboo
primer on sex did me no harm in 1971. Yet little did I know
that my preteen encounter with taboo would have such a
latent impact.
After the sex book incident, I continued to have this strange
attraction to the forbidden. I wanted to know what was going
on in all those places where I wasn’t supposed to be: topless
bars, nude beaches, dirty book stores, X-rated movie theaters,
peep show arcades, punk rock music clubs, gay clubs, the
afterhours. I wasn’t willing to blindly take anyone’s word
Fuck.indd 8 7/13/09 10:31:13 AM
Prologue ix
about what was good or bad or right or wrong without seeing
for myself. Part journalist, part tourist, and always nervous, I
grew up on my own quest to experience what you might call
the “seedy underbelly” of American culture. Now I can look
back and appreciate that this common theme of attraction
and repulsion was due to taboo.
Just as Dr. Reuben talked frankly about sex, one of our
strongest taboos in both language and act, these pages contain
frank discussion of our most taboo word. Fuck. Reuben got
a generation talking about sex topics like cunnilingus, the
Three-Headed Turtle, and shoe fetishes.
He demystified what people do. I’m interested in what we
say or won’t say—word and language taboos. And I want you
to think about the word fuck.
A brief note about the limits of this project: I’m interested
solely in the word fuck, its variations, and why this particular
four-letter word has such a robust intersection with the law.
While I find interesting the scholarly work of those who strive
to understand the power relationships expressed by “who
fucks” and “who gets fucked,” this article doesn’t address
that issue of language usage.1
Similarly, those interested in other offensive words, such as
nigger, may see some parallels, but I’ve deliberately not tried
to fashion an ambitious understanding of all offensive and
hurtful speech.2 I’m not even trying to corner the four-letter
word market. Shit’s happened.3 I leave cunt for another day.
Rather, I have tried to keep my fuck focus.
Fuck.indd 9 7/13/09 10:31:13 AM