History
The History of the word “cunt” is at times a surprisingly interesting one. Contrary to what you might think the word has not always been used as an insult to the female gender. In fact the first known mention of one of cunt’s earliest forms was in ancient Egypt. In her book Cunt: A Declaration of Independence Inga Muscio quotes Barbara G. Walker, a feminist writer, who talks about one of the earliest findings concerning the word cunt and I think that it would be a useful quotation to supply for you here:
In ancient writings the word for “cunt” was synonymous with “woman,” though not in the insulting modern sense. An Egyptologist was shocked to find the maxims of Ptah-Hotep “used for ‘woman’ a term that was more than blunt,” though its indelicacy was not in the eye of the ancient beholder, only in that of the modern scholar. (Muscio 7)
As said in the quotation, the word “cunt” originates from many early words in the languages of various nations. These nations are India, Ireland, China, Rome, and Egypt. These words were “titles of respect for women, priestesses and witches.” Also these words were derivatives of various goddesses’ names (Muscio 5).
Hundreds of years after the Egyptians used the word to express the concept of “woman” the Anglo-Saxons used the term as a basic word for female genitalia. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the first recorded English usage of the word dates back to 1230 (Zoladz). At the time there was a street in London that would today be considered a red-light district and it was called “Gropecunt Lane” (Greer). Eventually the word began to filter its way into English language literature where it became a word centered on the idea of female sexuality. It is mentioned throughout Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; a work filled with sex and sensual romps of all kinds. His works used the Middle English “queynte”. In a way Shakespeare himself used the word. In several of his plays he alluded to cunt often in word play, but none of his character ever actually said the word. He left it up to his audience to hear the word in the dialogue where the sounds of the word, or very similar sounds, were replicated. Often his context would lead his audience to the word he very much wasn’t using (Zoladz).
Unfortunately cunt did not remain a somewhat cheeky term used by authors to express sexuality and perhaps a bit of promiscuity. As the twentieth century rolled around Victorian sensibilities became bound up in what was proper, and “customs of repression and censorship” were established (Zoladz). Victorian values were opposed to those of Modernism and it showed. By 1960 books were on trial for obscenity; one example being D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover which, while on trial, was cited as having used cunt fourteen times (Zoladz).
As humanity has progressed into the twenty-first century we have experienced a revolution of the vocabulary. People of all minorities, subgroups, backgrounds, ethnicities, and languages have stepped up to their dictionaries and challenged the definitions they found there. For instance the word bitch has started to change from a vulgar term for a woman into a statement of empowerment and unity. In fact the magazine that Lindsay Zoladz, who has written the article that supplied much of the information I have used to learn about the history of the word cunt, is called Bitch Magazine. All across the United States words are being changed; definitions are being rewritten, and people who were once brought low by certain words are claiming them for themselves as tools with which they can take back their humanity. While all of this is wonderful cunt is still a word today with very negative connotations. When people hear it they sit up with shocked expressions to see who would utter such a word.
One reason that cunt has not changed as much as other terms is because of its strong connection with “female desire” (Zoladz). Germaine Greer is an emeritus professor in English Literature and Comparative Studies at the University of Warwick, and in a video that she did for the BBC she talks about this very subject saying “For hundreds of years men have identified female sexual energy as a dangerous force, and unlike other words for women’s genitals this one sounds powerful. It demands to be taken seriously” (Greer). The strong consonant sound of cunt is very much grating when compared to a similar term such as vagina. As said by Muscio in her book Cunt, the word vagina has a very different phonetic sound than cunt. She says that it is so comfortable that: “It resonates from the roof of your mouth,” and that it could be the name of an “economy car” (Muscio 3).
Another thing that separates the word cunt from vagina is the inherent meaning. Vagina thought it may not be considered this way by all, has traditionally referred to the parts of a woman’s genitalia that “refers exclusively to the birth canal.” Cunt on the other hand “includes the clitoris as well.” (Zoladz). This means then that while the term “vagina” is exclusive “cunt” is inclusive; a term that can and does include that one feared aspect of females that men have traditionally tried to control: female desire.
Today cunt, the word and the idea, is largely still a taboo subject in our American culture. If you walk down any street and say it casually, or any way for that matter, people will look at you strangely and perhaps angrily. Some feminist thinkers have taken the word as one of positive power and use it today to try and incite support in people for female desire (Greer). Others think that the word should stay just the way it is; an insult of shocking proportion that carries extremely negative connotations (Jones). Historically we are at a turning point for the word and the idea of cunt. In future histories linguists will look back and examine the ongoing debate that today holds the fate of a single word. This debate is as important, if not more so, than the history of the word cunt. Language change is a powerful force and it is not often that we can examine it specifically. Because of this importance this debate will be explored on the Reclamation and Opposition page.
In ancient writings the word for “cunt” was synonymous with “woman,” though not in the insulting modern sense. An Egyptologist was shocked to find the maxims of Ptah-Hotep “used for ‘woman’ a term that was more than blunt,” though its indelicacy was not in the eye of the ancient beholder, only in that of the modern scholar. (Muscio 7)
As said in the quotation, the word “cunt” originates from many early words in the languages of various nations. These nations are India, Ireland, China, Rome, and Egypt. These words were “titles of respect for women, priestesses and witches.” Also these words were derivatives of various goddesses’ names (Muscio 5).
Hundreds of years after the Egyptians used the word to express the concept of “woman” the Anglo-Saxons used the term as a basic word for female genitalia. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the first recorded English usage of the word dates back to 1230 (Zoladz). At the time there was a street in London that would today be considered a red-light district and it was called “Gropecunt Lane” (Greer). Eventually the word began to filter its way into English language literature where it became a word centered on the idea of female sexuality. It is mentioned throughout Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; a work filled with sex and sensual romps of all kinds. His works used the Middle English “queynte”. In a way Shakespeare himself used the word. In several of his plays he alluded to cunt often in word play, but none of his character ever actually said the word. He left it up to his audience to hear the word in the dialogue where the sounds of the word, or very similar sounds, were replicated. Often his context would lead his audience to the word he very much wasn’t using (Zoladz).
Unfortunately cunt did not remain a somewhat cheeky term used by authors to express sexuality and perhaps a bit of promiscuity. As the twentieth century rolled around Victorian sensibilities became bound up in what was proper, and “customs of repression and censorship” were established (Zoladz). Victorian values were opposed to those of Modernism and it showed. By 1960 books were on trial for obscenity; one example being D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover which, while on trial, was cited as having used cunt fourteen times (Zoladz).
As humanity has progressed into the twenty-first century we have experienced a revolution of the vocabulary. People of all minorities, subgroups, backgrounds, ethnicities, and languages have stepped up to their dictionaries and challenged the definitions they found there. For instance the word bitch has started to change from a vulgar term for a woman into a statement of empowerment and unity. In fact the magazine that Lindsay Zoladz, who has written the article that supplied much of the information I have used to learn about the history of the word cunt, is called Bitch Magazine. All across the United States words are being changed; definitions are being rewritten, and people who were once brought low by certain words are claiming them for themselves as tools with which they can take back their humanity. While all of this is wonderful cunt is still a word today with very negative connotations. When people hear it they sit up with shocked expressions to see who would utter such a word.
One reason that cunt has not changed as much as other terms is because of its strong connection with “female desire” (Zoladz). Germaine Greer is an emeritus professor in English Literature and Comparative Studies at the University of Warwick, and in a video that she did for the BBC she talks about this very subject saying “For hundreds of years men have identified female sexual energy as a dangerous force, and unlike other words for women’s genitals this one sounds powerful. It demands to be taken seriously” (Greer). The strong consonant sound of cunt is very much grating when compared to a similar term such as vagina. As said by Muscio in her book Cunt, the word vagina has a very different phonetic sound than cunt. She says that it is so comfortable that: “It resonates from the roof of your mouth,” and that it could be the name of an “economy car” (Muscio 3).
Another thing that separates the word cunt from vagina is the inherent meaning. Vagina thought it may not be considered this way by all, has traditionally referred to the parts of a woman’s genitalia that “refers exclusively to the birth canal.” Cunt on the other hand “includes the clitoris as well.” (Zoladz). This means then that while the term “vagina” is exclusive “cunt” is inclusive; a term that can and does include that one feared aspect of females that men have traditionally tried to control: female desire.
Today cunt, the word and the idea, is largely still a taboo subject in our American culture. If you walk down any street and say it casually, or any way for that matter, people will look at you strangely and perhaps angrily. Some feminist thinkers have taken the word as one of positive power and use it today to try and incite support in people for female desire (Greer). Others think that the word should stay just the way it is; an insult of shocking proportion that carries extremely negative connotations (Jones). Historically we are at a turning point for the word and the idea of cunt. In future histories linguists will look back and examine the ongoing debate that today holds the fate of a single word. This debate is as important, if not more so, than the history of the word cunt. Language change is a powerful force and it is not often that we can examine it specifically. Because of this importance this debate will be explored on the Reclamation and Opposition page.