"Cause if you shoot a bullet someone dies. If you drop a bomb many die. You hit a woman, love dies. But if you say the F-word... nothing actually happens.”
---Richard Curtis
I have never understood our preoccupation with "four letter" words. Somewhere along the way, we have decided that some words represent things negatively, and woe to the person who uses one of those words. We, as a society, give somewhat of a pass to men who yell out these words in traffic or a locker room, but a woman who uses such language is a "wanton" woman. As far as I am concerned, time spent fixated on the use of hand picked "curse" words can better be spent just about anywhere else.
The use of these words would not influence my vote in this election. It is the emotion behind these words that trouble me. It is the picture that these words paint, showing women as objects and men as owners, that feed into a culture that is as American as apple pie. I truly believe that some men actually think they are complimenting women when they wolf whistle as they walk by, grope them in a crowded subway or push them into unwanted sex. Not A Compliment guys...really Not.
This entire media storm showing Trump as an abuser embarrasses the media as much as the man. They are falling all over each other to see how many times they can say, write or highlight the word that is generally forbidden when describing women. Ridiculous! They are acting childish and promoting the abuse. I remember when I was about eight years old, and the word damn was considered a curse word that was off limits. One day, I was reading about beavers and the dams they built. My eight year old tongue rolled around the word dam with glee, and I spent weeks discussing beaver dams with my friends and parents. Finally I found the cursing loophole. I could say dam, but in my head I was yelling DAMN!
I feel that the media is using that same loophole, when every newspaper or magazine article I read keeps printing the very word that they are castigating Donald Trump for using. We get it! There is nobody in America that does not know that he used that word. Stop repeating it. Use your grown up words to share real news instead of to influence our thinking by using sensationalism. Your original stories went a long way to solidify my feelings about a man who has always objectified women. Job completed! Please get back to the issues.
Speaking of words, Larry Smith made me smile this week when I read his book, Six Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak: by Writers Famous and Obscure. He asked people to sum up their feelings about their love and/or heartbreak in a mere six words. As a writer, I tend to use an abundance of words when my point could be made with far fewer, and when I try to edit myself I get frustrated. I loved what these people had to say in so few words. Each tidbit painted a wonderful picture of a relationship, and the book went by way too quickly. Oh, and this is my attempt at six words for Arthur. "Thanks for my happily ever after!"
We have heard a great deal about white supremacy groups lately, and Gary Gusick's latest book, The Legacy, touches on that while it follows the search for the killer of a black coed on a southern college campus. This is the third book featuring police detective Darla Cavannah, and it touches on many sensitive areas as Darla makes her way to a satisfying ending.
As always, complete reviews of both books follow this blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
---Richard Curtis
I have never understood our preoccupation with "four letter" words. Somewhere along the way, we have decided that some words represent things negatively, and woe to the person who uses one of those words. We, as a society, give somewhat of a pass to men who yell out these words in traffic or a locker room, but a woman who uses such language is a "wanton" woman. As far as I am concerned, time spent fixated on the use of hand picked "curse" words can better be spent just about anywhere else.
The use of these words would not influence my vote in this election. It is the emotion behind these words that trouble me. It is the picture that these words paint, showing women as objects and men as owners, that feed into a culture that is as American as apple pie. I truly believe that some men actually think they are complimenting women when they wolf whistle as they walk by, grope them in a crowded subway or push them into unwanted sex. Not A Compliment guys...really Not.
This entire media storm showing Trump as an abuser embarrasses the media as much as the man. They are falling all over each other to see how many times they can say, write or highlight the word that is generally forbidden when describing women. Ridiculous! They are acting childish and promoting the abuse. I remember when I was about eight years old, and the word damn was considered a curse word that was off limits. One day, I was reading about beavers and the dams they built. My eight year old tongue rolled around the word dam with glee, and I spent weeks discussing beaver dams with my friends and parents. Finally I found the cursing loophole. I could say dam, but in my head I was yelling DAMN!
I feel that the media is using that same loophole, when every newspaper or magazine article I read keeps printing the very word that they are castigating Donald Trump for using. We get it! There is nobody in America that does not know that he used that word. Stop repeating it. Use your grown up words to share real news instead of to influence our thinking by using sensationalism. Your original stories went a long way to solidify my feelings about a man who has always objectified women. Job completed! Please get back to the issues.
Speaking of words, Larry Smith made me smile this week when I read his book, Six Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak: by Writers Famous and Obscure. He asked people to sum up their feelings about their love and/or heartbreak in a mere six words. As a writer, I tend to use an abundance of words when my point could be made with far fewer, and when I try to edit myself I get frustrated. I loved what these people had to say in so few words. Each tidbit painted a wonderful picture of a relationship, and the book went by way too quickly. Oh, and this is my attempt at six words for Arthur. "Thanks for my happily ever after!"
We have heard a great deal about white supremacy groups lately, and Gary Gusick's latest book, The Legacy, touches on that while it follows the search for the killer of a black coed on a southern college campus. This is the third book featuring police detective Darla Cavannah, and it touches on many sensitive areas as Darla makes her way to a satisfying ending.
As always, complete reviews of both books follow this blog.
Happy reading,
- Beverly
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