Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 64 replies, 65 voices, and was last updated 19 years, 5 months ago by
.
- Posts
- My parents divorced when I was two, and since then I have lived with my grandparents. I am allowed to swear in front of my father's family (but not at them), but when with my mother's family I get in major trouble just for saying something like 'bloody hell' or 'up yours'.
User Detail :
Name : Letty, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 16, City : London, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,Where do I start? OK, 'fart' is not a curse word, nor is it profane. It is a word with a clear meaning, something many in our societies cannot deal with. It is no worse than 'flatulate.. In that vein, 's**t' is no worse than defecate, 'f**k' than fornicate (or make love), 'piss' than urinate, 'ass' than buttocks, 'asshole' than anus, 'damn' than condemn. They are just words to which folks give too much impact. Excluded language is a form of bigotry, used to avoid communicating by those who object to 'how it was said' rather than listening to what was said. Function is more important than form.A little definition is needed here: a curse is a form of prayer - only those who believe in prayer can curse, not those who do not. A curse is a demand that some higher power overcome the laws of nature for one person's benefit. 'Goddamn it' is not a curse because it does not direct its intent at anything. Neither is 'f**k you' because no deity is involved. Actually, no deity is ever involved in anything.
The kind of language we should be concerned about is that which someone like our putative president uses. He couches his terms very nicely (though stupidly), but his meaning is clear. He wishes harm on the most helpless while delivering the goods to those who do not need them. He would send my son to war to support his petroleum stock. That should get him a backhand from his mother.
How about 'eugenics' (cleansing the race)? Nice word, huh? 'Police action' (war)? 'Freedom Fighter' (terrorist)? 'Commander-in-Chief' (draft dodger and deserter)? 'Republican leadership' (draft dodging chickenhawks)? Christian education' (training school for fanatics and bigots who cannot abide other people - think Bob Jones U.)? 'Home schooling' (don't confuse my children with the reality that mommy and daddy are not always right or that one should be able to abide lots of different opinions)? How about 'secret information' for outright lies? S**t, f**k, piss, c**t, c**ksucker, motherf**ker and tits don't seem so bad now, do they?
User Detail :
Name : Six, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : mixed race, Age : 56, City : Tallahassee, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : retired government employee, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,When I was growing up, if I cursed in the presence of my parents I would get my mouth washed out with soap. Do you remeber the scene with Ralphie in 'A Christmas Story'? Well, I had that done to me. If you have not seen that movie: a 10-year-old boy in the 1950s says the 'F' word to his folks and the mom puts a bar of soap in his mouth for 20 minutes. I do not think that this cursing thing is limited to just white people. I see the same level of disrespect from other races and economic states (not just poorer folks). One might ask the question in another form: Why are there parents who allow there children to get away with everything? Why are there horribly disrespectful children in every culture? One answer, I feel, is that the perpetuation of bad parenting follows from generation to generation, unless of course a strong-willed child pulls himself of herself out of the cycle and learns to be a good parent. Also, children are constantly pushing their boundries and finding ways to test their parents; so if you watched TV growing up and learned that 'ass' was the worst thing you could say on TV, then 'ass' would be acceptable around the dinner table and you would most likely not get into trouble for saying it.User Detail :
Name : Chris Baker, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 26, City : Summerville, State : SC Country : United States, Occupation : Graphic Artist, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,The original question is 'why do kids curse in front of their parents' and the key words are 'in front of their parents.' From what I see in the community, the black kids I've seen curse were not in front of their parents. I've seen very few white kids curse in front of their parents, and the ones who did were close to being in their teens, but it wasn't really in public. I have not witnessed many black kids cursing in front of their parents, either. But the majority of the kids with the worse manners in public, even around their parents, were black kids. But don't think I'm stereotyping: the white kids aren't getting any better these days. The overall respect for adults and the public in general from kids is way down from what it was about 10 years ago. Maybe spankings should come back in schools, where kids receive the bulk of their influences.User Detail :
Name : Stevo27717, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : Charleston, State : SC Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,My kids nver swore at me when they were young. My teenage daughter flips me off now but I have a long memory. Next time she wants something I'll bring this up. I will make her suffer the ramifications one way or another. If this is happening it's because the parents have no chin or backbone. A lot of them are afraid of confrontation but I enjoy the tests my teenagers present to me. It's all a test to see what parents are made of and sadly, a lot of them are failing it.User Detail :
Name : Andrew, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 47, City : Parker, State : CO Country : United States, Occupation : Information Technology, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.