Censorship and Profanity

[Thinking Skins]

I wanted to ask a basic question that may seem too elementary to discuss, but I'll take a stab at it anyway:

What is the purpose of censoring profanity? Not just here, but in general in the American society?

Is it so that children do not hear these words and use them improperly?

Is it to keep a certain level of dignity?

Is it not to offend others in your conversations?

I'm asking this because, as a person who curses regularly, its sometimes hard to listen to people who tell me that I need to rephrase my words. Sometimes I wonder why one word is a curse word but another is not, or why some words, which used to be words that were unspeakable are seen regularly on Comedy Central after 1:00 AM.

I grew up being told that "****" was a curse word that I should never use. However, in my normal professional meetings I hear this word all the time, so I kinda question which words are allowed and which are not.

I'm interested to see the different opinions about this though.

[SkinsFTW]

I used to wonder the same thing. But that was a long time ago.

I really don't know the real answer. I have people at work laugh at me sometimes because they have never heard someone use the word **** so many times in the same sentence. I'm in the Navy therefore it just happens. Nothing I can do about it, lol.

Sentences like "I can't ****ing believe this ****ing ship is ****ing going out for some mother****ing bull**** ****ing again." are par for the course.

[DeanCollins]

I wanted to ask a basic question that may seem too elementary to discuss, but I'll take a stab at it anyway:

What is the purpose of censoring profanity? Not just here, but in general in the American society?

Is it so that children do not hear these words and use them improperly?

Is it to keep a certain level of dignity?

Is it not to offend others in your conversations?

I'm asking this because, as a person who curses regularly, its sometimes hard to listen to people who tell me that I need to rephrase my words. Sometimes I wonder why one word is a curse word but another is not, or why some words, which used to be words that were unspeakable are seen regularly on Comedy Central after 1:00 AM.

I grew up being told that "****" was a curse word that I should never use. However, in my normal professional meetings I hear this word all the time, so I kinda question which words are allowed and which are not.

I'm interested to see the different opinions about this though.

The same would ask what is meant by the phrase "to have class"

[China]

Nothing I can do about it, lol.

I beg to differ. You can if you try.

[SkinsFTW]

I beg to differ. You can if you try.

I was joking, but at work I don't have to try anyway either.

[rebornempowered]

a) What is the purpose of censoring profanity? Not just here, but in general in the American society?

Is it so that children do not hear these words and use them improperly?

c) Is it to keep a certain level of dignity?

d) Is it not to offend others in your conversations?

The answer is:

e) all of the above.

[DeanCollins]

The answer is:

e) all of the above.

exactly thankyou, now we'll here some endless and mindless debate about

the usefulness of it all

[dfitzo53]

I wanted to ask a basic question that may seem too elementary to discuss, but I'll take a stab at it anyway:

What is the purpose of censoring profanity? Not just here, but in general in the American society?

Is it so that children do not hear these words and use them improperly?

Is it to keep a certain level of dignity?

Is it not to offend others in your conversations?

I'm asking this because, as a person who curses regularly, its sometimes hard to listen to people who tell me that I need to rephrase my words. Sometimes I wonder why one word is a curse word but another is not, or why some words, which used to be words that were unspeakable are seen regularly on Comedy Central after 1:00 AM.

I grew up being told that "****" was a curse word that I should never use. However, in my normal professional meetings I hear this word all the time, so I kinda question which words are allowed and which are not.

I'm interested to see the different opinions about this though.

Some people say it's a sign of a small vocabulary, but I'm not sure I agree with that 100%. I think they just want to make themselves feel better about never swearing and missing out on all the fun. A well-timed curse word can have a nice weight to it that no other word can, but 18 of them in a row lose that value. I was brought up never to swear, so I don't cuss around my parents (or other adults) ever, and for the most part I tone it down around girls too. In any other context though, it's pretty much open season.

To answer your question more directly, yes. Profanity is censored for all of those reasons. Also, I would submit, to retain the value of the word as an expletive and not a punctuation mark.

[Thinking Skins]

exactly thankyou, now we'll here some endless and mindless debate about

the usefulness of it all

Nah, not exactly. I'm barking up a different tree.

[Thinking Skins]

The answer is:

e) all of the above.

So who draws the line between whats profane and cast out vs. whats allowed but just frowned upon?

I remember back when my grandpa wouldn't let me use "butt" instead he would say things like "hein-pots" Now "butt" is looked at as the good way of saying "ass". And now, even "ass" is allowed on the local radio and TV stations.

Are these profane words becoming less "bad" and more "allowed?

[dfitzo53]

Are these profane words becoming less "bad" and more "allowed?

Now you're moving to the general cultural shift that's allowed into the air waves more material that used to be considered off-limits. It's not just profanity, it's innuendo, nudity, violence and everything that goes along with that. (Don't misread my post - I'm not stating an opinion either way on that, I'm just stating the facts.)

I don't know that they're becoming "less bad," but they're enjoying wider use. Frankly, how can you really stop someone from using offensive language? You can't.

[DeanCollins]

I has to do with the degradation of society. Here's part of an article that I agree with.

http://www.emilypost.com/surveys/results/poll11.html

In your opinion, are people more uncivil today than 20 years ago?

Yes: 81% (687 out of 847)

No: 19% (160 out of 847)

"The majority had a lot to say about what they believe to be the causes of incivility: lack of respect, lack of consideration, lack of patience, callousness, selfishness, intolerance for others and too much tolerance for bad language and poor behavior. And they weren't blaming it on the kids, but on adults. Ouch! How did we get here? Many cited our fast-paced society as the biggest culprit. "Everyone is in too much of a hurry, [even] to give a thank you." " We don't say hello to our neighbors." ".The pace of life today forces people to behave rudely even though they have no intention of doing so." In our rushing around we have become oblivious to one another without even realizing it. Road rage, desk rage and sidewalk rage all erupt when we cease to tolerate even minor disruptions to our plans, schedules or destinations.

Others think that our general tolerance for profanity and our hardened attitude to violence and conflict contribute to the degradation of our civil environment, creating a sort of attitudinal smog that pollutes our societal atmosphere. There is no question that it is difficult to filter out the daily bombardment of profanity - on the radio, on TV, in the movies, in print, on the internet. Words that were bleeped five years ago have all four letters pronounced distinctly today."

[Prosperity]

There is no point, if there was less censorship then it wouldn't be a big deal. Just a form of censorship which has no right to exist but does because people are too delicate to like all the aspects of freedom.