If there's one word in the English language that still freaks people out, it's the four-letter word for vagina — hereafter referred to as "the c-word" or "c--t" so all of you who find the word offensive can safely read on.

In fact, the c-word tops the list of profanities compiled by a group of British broadcasters. It's equally offensive in the United States — something activist and actress Jane Fonda discovered on Feb. 14 when she used the word on national television.

Despite the fact Fonda was not attempting to insult anyone, but simply using the word in the context of discussion about Eve Ensler's play The Vagina Monologues, NBC wasted no time in issuing an apology and actually censored the item when it was shown on the West Coast.

The word has been around for centuries, but that hasn't lessened its power. Call a woman a c--t and you diminish her completely. I would say that up until a week ago, when I saw The Vagina Monologues at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., I had difficulty saying either the c-word or the word it's slang for. I may have said "vagina" about six times in my life ("down there" seemed to do the trick) and used "c--t" only when cut off by the most despicable of drivers or if I hit my finger when hammering. I hated using it. That's because I had only heard it used in the most derogatory fashion, usually by men towards women and often preceded by a mean-spirited adjective.

A sign of a larger stigma

I had never really thought about why it's so important that the c-word be viewed positively until I saw The Vagina Monologues, first presented in 1996. One whole monologue is about the c-word and by the end of it, you're pretty well desensitized to it — which is a good thing. In fact, the whole play is such a wonderful vehicle to put women in touch with their bodies and help men understand us that it should be required viewing in all high schools.

The sad thing is how women still view their genitals with such distaste, as do the men around them. In the '60s, women used feminine deodorant spray to eradicate a perfectly natural smell. Who knows how that affects long-term health? These days, women shave or wax their pubic area so that they can look as infantile as possible for men who like them that way. Influenced by porn in which women's genitals look like a child's (and sometimes sadly are), some men are misled into believing that unshaven women are "dirty." In fact, women are much more prone to infections via inflamed hair follicles when they're practising hair removal.

It seems that female genitals are still viewed as pretty ugly and in need of beautification or renovation. The latest trend in female genital renovation is cosmetic surgery designed to beautify the area, by reducing women's labia and tightening their vaginas, etc. Such surgery veers scarily close to the practices in some cultures that are decried in the West as "female genital mutilation."

While everyone's busy trying to improve the area, maybe society needs to realize it doesn't need fixing. It's fine the way it is.

Penis slang doesn't carry the same taint

Yes, there are many slang words to describe a man's penis and they are sometimes used in a derogatory fashion — but none as heinous as the old c-word.

Why? Well for one thing, men are pretty proud of their penises and their bodies. If you've ever visited an internet dating site and read the way men describe themselves and then seen their pictures, you'll know there's a big disconnect between the two. In a way, it's kind of neat, though, because mousy little accountants envisage themselves as fabulous sexual beings — and why not?

Women, on the other hand, usually hate at least one body part with a passion and many of us hate most of our body parts. Talk at the gym is always about what we would lipo, fix or purchase if we had the money.

NBC should be ashamed of apologizing for Fonda's use of the word. Ensler has been quoted as saying that the whole point of her play is to reclaim the word, to make it beautiful and powerful instead of denigrating or ugly.

Instead of apologizing on the air to those who may have called or written in complaint, NBC should have purchased tickets for them to see the next viewing of The Vagina Monologues, which is shown on university campuses and in a number of cities every year. My son, 16, saw the Kingston show and I thought how lucky he was to hear how women feel about their bodies when he's just discovering the opposite sex. Hopefully, it will make him more understanding of the women with whom he has relationships.

Let's face it: most of us spend our first seconds passing through the vagina as we emerge into the world. It should be glorified as a joyful place, and one which many men and women are happy to revisit time and again.

In the '70s, Monty Python put together a skit involving a man who could not say the letter C and used the letter B instead. The skit ended with the character exclaiming, "What a silly bunt!"

Someday things may change and people will be able to use the c-word without fear of recrimination. It really just depends on how we view these things.

After all, Willy, Dick, Peter, Fred and John make great boys' names.

Letters

I applaud your courage for writing this article and CBC's for publishing it. I think it's important that we keep the discussion about body image at the top of the social agenda.

I first discovered a woman and her c..t when I was 16 (she was 21) and I have been a huge fan ever since. Unfortunately, I had, like many men and women, used the word to hurt. About 6 or 7 years ago I found c..t.com, which no longer exists, but at the time the site was all about reclaiming the word and I jumped on the bandwagon.

I have a couple of serious issues with the article though. You wrote, "The sad thing is how women still view their genitals with such distaste, as do the men around them." In my 47 years I think the only men who have ever expressed any distaste were gay men! However, I know there are men who feel that way out there. Surely you have access to research and you should have added some real numbers.

Anyway, I hope you and CBC can keep up the attempt to bring Canadians into the 21st century.

– Kevin | Montreal, QC

Loved the article. It reminds me of a professor I once had who purposefully used the 'c - word' in re-imagined ways that made it have positive connotations.

For instance, "Wow Sarah, you're looking positively c**tish today, absolutely beautiful". I was so taken aback in the beginning (this was in my first year as an undergraduate), but by midway through the course the word had lost all negative connotations.

The point being: this word seems to be relegated to that of any powerful word that has historically been used to humiliate a particular group in society, and will likely divide people that care about it (not counting those who see no problem with its regular use) into believing it should be either re-purposed into a term of endearment by the formerly oppressed group (as 'queer' and other once offensive terms have been) OR it should be considered to be a 'hate' word and one should be publicly shunned for using it.

I suppose time will tell which way the propriety-tide takes it.

– Emily | Toronto

I don't even know which c-word she is talking about. there are two. I suspect she means c..t, but clit fits almost as well. Get real guys, put a disclaimer before the article if you must, but really are we still that prudish?

– Cory Alder | Verdun, QC.

It's just a word. If anything, it's the context, tone, and venue that would upset people. There was a time when "f..k" was the taboo word - people would stop dead in their tracks back in the 70's - even if it was uttered in times of great pain or grief.

Now it's accepted more (after all, it fills practically every part of speech in the English language)and the context, tone, and venue are still points of consideration. I've heard many a teenaged girl or a woman call a boy/man a "prick". What's the difference?

It seems to be one of women not accepting themselves and feeling (totally)diminished. Whereas guys don't seem to take it so personally. Women use it against other women and men notice the power it seems to have. So, if we want to disparage a woman totally, we choose the best weapon, the one women have given us. It seems that men's not taking these insults personally makes us equal-opportunity insulters.

Although "c..t" has an extensive etymology comprising many older (some many centuries old) and modern languages , many kids and possibly adults, use it without knowing its meaning - they just know it gets "results".

We will become desensitised to the word "c..t" and all this fooferah will be forgotten in the general scheme of things.

The one way to encourage its use is to either externally censor its use, or... to "freak out" in the presence of those using it. Internal censorship works better.

– David Constable | Nanoose Bay

It really doesn't matter, in the real world, what spin "intellectuals" put on the "c" word. It is the ultimate derogatory, offensive word.

Who cares why? It just is. No amount of verbiage by elite columnists will change this. So no, the CBC should not have printed it in full, along with this whole column.

– zed | campbell river, bc

Excellent article, Georgie. I am one who always has (and sadly probably always will) find the word offensive. Probably because, as you have pointed out, it is invariably used in an insulting and sometimes downright hateful way.

I don't believe the word has ever passed my lips, even if I did hammer my thumb or get cut off by an idiot in traffic. The word just does not come to me, it is that offensive.

I was absolutely shocked when reading a book by my favorite author, Ken Follet, the word appeared. And then it appeared again in the sequel. These books are set in the period between 1100 and 1300 A.D. So, I was truly horrified that he used the word. Yet in the text of the book, it wasn't used in an offensive way, it was just a word. Then you tell me that it's been around for centuries. Well, knowing how well researched Mr. Follett's books are, I believe it. There's no way he would use such a word hundreds of years out of context.

So, it appears that only in the last generation or two has this word become sullied.

I don't know what kind of a mental block exists for me on this word, but it does. I've always viewed myself as a forward thinker, a feminist (without being a man-hater... God forbid) and a reasonable intelligent person, so I guess it speaks volumes that this word has such a stigma in my mind, that I don't think I will ever use it. Rational or not, there it is.

– Deborah | Newfoundland

Really enjoyed your column on the "c-word". I'm a comedian that has been saying all the bad words on stage for a living for more than twenty years. In the last couple of years I've (and many others) been able to include it and not lose the crowd, on the contrary, they mostly go crazy.

For me, it started in the UK where they drop the C-word in church. All the comics over there use it and not even for shock, just matter of fact. When I got back to Canada I started using it and it worked, (about 85% of the time). So I think things are changing for sure. Once again, nice job.

– Tim Steeves | Toronto

I think profanity, when used in "reasonable" context, has an almost necessary place; insomuch as people are made aware that it exists in everyday situations. If I am talking to my doctor, for instance; he allows that I can express myself with "colourful language" and/or "punctuation points."

That said: I am somewhat distressed at hearing certain words or phrases uttered in the presence of people who have not given their explicit, or even their implicit consent to "hear" said items of speech. I don't choose to deal with "vulgar persons", whether male or female; anymore than I "hang with the bar crowd." That said: I don't like "slutty" advertising, using overt sex to sell.

I feel I have to disagree somewhat with author Georgie Binks in a 'holistic' view: if we teach our children not to "swear", seems to me we promote a "double-standard." Further to her comments: I want to go around asking people in "Neurotic North America" at what point did the word "penis" become 'unmentionable'? Seems the "lady of the house" would rather put up with "male splatter" into the toilet [and wasting 25 litres of drinking water to wash it away] than to allow for a urinal to be in the household. In the "old" days, people pissed in the sink! Go to Europe, & you see just as many male nude statues as female. Can you imagine the riot that would cause here in North America?

I don't want to come off as some "Puritan Puke"; but there are some terms that I don't use as a matter of "common dialogue". The "c-word" is not part of my vocabulary, & I use the phrases "c-s'er" and "m-f'er" sparingly, when talking to someone who does give tacit permission, where I wish to express the highest of disdain regarding a person, place or thing. I appreciate the warnings that the Media announces if coarse language, or other "mature subject matter" will be present in programming.

Bottom line: I'm not advocating for a moratorium on coarse language; I just don't want it as a "normal or necessary" public utterance. I think that even a reasonable degree of 'profanity' is to be tempered as something "situation-dependent". Most of us know what the acronym "S.N.A.F.U." means; we don't need to go to great lengths to "spell it out for the masses".

– Brian Gemmell | New Westminster,B.C.