The C word.

It is a word that makes people cringe, but why? Men, especially heterosexual men are prone to use it to insult others. Yet, while they use it as a put down, heterosexual men spend almost all of their lives trying to get close to, and inside of it. Most of us have come from it- of course we have, our mothers have one, as do our grandmothers and all the women in our family that have been and will be! The word is spat out as if it was a vile thing, not the soft and warm mound of living flesh that it is. Unsurprisingly it multi-tasks, well…as a defining part of the female of our species, one would expect no less!  It gets rid of liquid waste from the body, it can give intimate and erotic pleasure, it is part of the process of creating life and also in delivering it into the world. So why is the word seen and used as an offensive term?  I know people who double over cringing at the mention of it. Being who I am, I take great pleasure in using the word often around these people!! I see it as a way of reclaiming the word.  As an opportunity for us to examine why we react to it in the way that we do. Is it the pronunciation of the word? The imagery it creates? The socially constructed definition? Shouldn’t it be seen as a compliment? – ‘I love you, you are a c…’. Meaning -You give me pleasure; your life giving/ life creating; you’re a multitasker. This word has been twisted and used as a weapon against women, to make them feel ashamed of something that is an integral part of themselves. An integral part of our species, for without it we would not be here. Let’s reclaim it. Let us mention it often and do away with the harsh pronunciation, that hard ‘T’ sound, let’s pronounce it lovingly. Let’s have a ‘Love the cunt’ day, but most importantly, let’s do away with the shame.