Calling a Kid the "C" Word

[Daveman]

snip

Just FYI, on the C word in the UK, it's still very bad, still very much the worst swearword. There's no level above that. I think you're just mostly exposed to very swear-happy people from the UK what with the internets and all. But yeah, a lot of us say absolute filth and don't really care.

edit: oh shit, erm, on topic, I guess it was kind of funny. Bit surprised there's people in america that will go that far on a joke, especially relatively mainstream people. But yeah, you wouldn't do it to a 9 year old, but you're literally fine with it happening with other people. Needs pointing out what a stupid thing that sort of comment is.

 

[Legion]

NOTE: For my international readers, in the U.S. "the C word" (which I understand to be common to the point of casual use in the UK) is for whatever reason considered to be just about the worst anti-female insult one can utter.

No, you are wrong in regards to it being so frequent it is casual. By the kind of people who swear in every sentence, yes, but not amongst "normal" people. It is more or less considered the most offensive word you can use against somebody, and while the word is referring to a female body part, the insult is used against guys just as much as it is against girls.

You will hear the word **** censored on UK television even when fuck isn't sometimes.

 

[llyrnion]

Ah, Twitter... If only I liked /popcorn, I'd have guaranteed entertainment for hours on end. As Bob said, most things that look effortless (just watch Steve Vai play guitar) take eons of work to perfect to a level where their performers make it look effortless.

Anyway, poor choice of words, considering the kid's age.

 

[llyrnion]

Have you been on Youtube? 9-year-olds insult each other constantly! And they punch and kick each other, too. And they pee their pants. Children are disgusting, snot-nosed little bastards to each other and to adults. I don't know why exactly it's so bad that adults are berating children - especially on what is ostensibly a satirical, fake news outlet - but it actually does happen all the fucking time.

Yes, they do, This myth that "children are holy innocence, the best of the world, yadda yadda yadda" is totally BS. Children can be all this one moment, and then be the worst cruel bastards the next minute.

However, whoever wrote this joke is not a 9yo. As such, I hold him/her to a higher standard than I'd hold a 9yo. Which is why I think this was in poor taste.

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

But don't we call young boys "dickheads" all the time yet **** is unacceptable?
Don't get me wrong I hate it when any person demeans someone else and think the twitter is in the wrong.
Also the fact of her age shouldn't factor into it,insulting anyone should be looked down upon.
However I do find the double standard between swears interesting.

You call nine-year-olds boys dickheads?

When I was 9 we were calling each other dickheads. Let's not pretend that all the kids are innocent little flowers, they know what swears are and are probably using them.

All kids are not innocent flowers, but that doesn't mean they've all been subjected to everything or thinks it's appropriate even if they say it. I probably didn't start using language like that until I was thirteen, and I went to school with kids who wouldn't say things like that for many more years if at all. I can tell you that if you had called me a dickhead or a **** at the age of nine you probably would have seriously hurt my feelings, I was a sensitive kid in a family that didn't tolerate swearing. Does that mean there was something wrong with me? I don't think so, because as a person, especially an adult, communicating with or talking about another person you should have the empathy to understand or at least consider their experiences and, if you're an adult talking to/about a child, you should be able to scale your language to their level.

I think the major difference here is that describing someone as a ****, "___ is a bit of a ****" is very different from actually calling someone a ****, "Hey ___ , You are a ****".

The latter is in almost all circumstances unacceptable for an adult to say to a child, as regardless of intention the child is probably going to be extremely upset by this. While the former (which is what the onion did) is an expression of their feelings, that is not actually being directed at the child. Which might still be seen as crude and offensive, is nowhere near the level of walking up to a child and just saying "You are a ****"

 

[deathbeforedecaf]

It was a badly made joke, if it needs explaining you need a re-write.However it was not one that was any more offensive than thousands of jokes the Onion has made in the past. What annoys me is the the outrage over this whole thing,Its out of proportion and over the top. Yelling and screaming at the latest outrage to our sensibilities until the next outrage comes along next week. Its just sad, there's not much thinking going on

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

They shoulda used a different word.

They used the one that is so obviously over the top, no one in their right mind should have taken it seriously. The fact that they used THAT word is what makes it so obvious. I don't see a problem with this. But it's business as usual. People are jumping in front of the nonexistent offensive bullet. If people weren't so goddamn sensitive about EVERYTHING this would not be an issue. This should not be an issue. How obvious does a joke have to be in order for people to get it and not be offended by it? Jesus!

People don't seem to understand that the only reason swear words have any power is because they take them seriously. Ignore the swear word and you've taken away all of it's power. It's meaningless shit. Get that in your heads already.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Sounds like a gamble that didn't quite pay off. I still think its in bad taste to call a 9 year old a ****, especially on a broadcast twitter feed. Had this been in a stand up act in a private club, then it would be the storm in the teacup some folks wanna make it out to be. However, if as some of you point out, she's a public figure and fair game, so too are their comments about her.

 

[surg3n]

The C word is the worst huh... I'm from the UK, and I hear people say it all the time, it's akin to calling someone a little shit over here really, but I still hate it. Thing is, Americans pronounce it completely differently - when I hear an American say it, it sounds much harsher - like they pronounce it with real venom, giving it the weight it probably should have. Also, we don't just call someone a c*** - it's usually like:

You little ****
You horrible ****
You unimaginable ****

Put this way, if I heard a mother call her child a little ****, it wouldn't even raise any eyebrows with most people. We are so desensitised to swearing anyway... we tend to refer to that 'region' as a fanny, when we call someone a fanny in Scotland, it's practically a term of endearment - if someone makes fun of us, we'd call them a 'cheeky little c***' - and nobody is offended.

When an American uses it straight - well to me it sounds harsh as hell I think.


One other thing I hate, is when girls do that V tongue thing - I mean do they even know what they are doing?
Are they calling people a p-licker or something?, because they're doing visual insults completely wrong.
If a girl did that to me, I'd just have to ask if it's an insult, a request, do they have barbeque sauce on their fingers, or are they just plain retarded. Visually, we can call someone a dick (middle finger), call them a wanker (wank hand gesture), call them whatever... and women can call someone a p-licker, but I have no idea why they think that's an insult, isn't that counter-productive... men don't call women cocksuckers do they! - we don't insult someone by suggesting they do exactly what we want them to
I'm thinking that people should at least understand the implications of the insults they blindly throw around.

 

[rbstewart7263]

bob youve gotten pretty good at discussing an issue thoughtfully without jumping on the ole. "this is bad and your bad if you dont agree" bandwagon that so many do.

I suppose this will lead to more discussion of whats right whats wrong should rape jokes be told yadayadayada.

 

[wearesoneutralthatithurts]

" Say whatever you like, but if what you say is hurtful or leads to actual harm be prepared for repercussions, be they legal or (preferably) in the form of shame and societal shunning by your peers. "

*Facepalm*

If saying something gets you punished by the justice system because it was mean (but not slander or something like that), then you don't have free speech. Free speech protects you from legal consequences from your speech, this includes civil courts. That's why slander is considered not to be free speech and someone trying to sue someone else for calling them a **** would be laughed out of court.

Okay so free speech allows you to insult, harass, silence and shun people, to call out for violence and hate against other people.
sorry, that isn't free speech, that is being an ass hole and trying to defend it because its okay for you.(and all the other people need to man up or whatever rude comment people get which dare to feed offended by a word which was intended to hurt them...)

why is it so hard to be decent to other people? cant understand it, sorry. so I am happy for the law in my country which says that you can say nearly everything you want except if you insult and harass people or of you try to be hateful and use language in a way which brings people to be violent against other people-I live in Germany and the history shows that words can lead to deeds. bad deeds. (except this law that say you aren't allows to show swastikas because some dumb judge wasn't able to see whether its displayed because someone wants to advertise national socialism or as a statement against nazis. (but this gets better. and think that holocaust denying is forbidden wont help because dumb people will believe in this bullshit whether its legal or not)

the German people were against boycotting Jewish shops and doctors and lawyers because they thought:f** it, that are friends and good people.
5 years of propaganda and anti-jewish laws and exact the same people destroyed shops, raided households and have beaten people to death on the streets or set them on fire (in my home town they killed a young boy and stuffed people in the synagogue and set the building on fire and watch them burn to death while the fire brigade only cared about that the houses of "Aryan" people dind´t ignite.

after only five years of propaganda. I don't compare calling a 9 year old girl a **** for no apparent reasons (except being an asshole) to this-I want to say that words aren't just words you can shrug off. Its more. Its the meaning, its the intention to hurt and destroy which is inherited in these kind of words and can only overseen in very special situations (between friends)


so, yeah, words can do harm because they can implant the thought of hate and of superiority and all this bs into peoples minds. it worked. every big outburst of violence had people which initialized hate with words and sentences. and i bet my ass that it works today too...




so- its good that they did apoplogize. i think there are enough people in this word which like to insult and hurt people-we dont need more of that kind, we need generous, compassionate people. not meanies.

 

[Galletea]

The joke would have worked much better if they'd just called her a *****. It would have been more of a joke and less of a reaction inciting shocker.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

But don't we call young boys "dickheads" all the time yet **** is unacceptable?
Don't get me wrong I hate it when any person demeans someone else and think the twitter is in the wrong.
Also the fact of her age shouldn't factor into it,insulting anyone should be looked down upon.
However I do find the double standard between swears interesting.

The double standards of sexism have existed for as long as I can remember lol, I don't see things changing anytime soon.

 

[llyrnion]

I live in Germany and the history shows that words can lead to deeds. bad deeds.
(...)
the German people were against boycotting Jewish shops and doctors and lawyers because they thought:f** it, that are friends and good people.
5 years of propaganda and anti-jewish laws and exact the same people destroyed shops, raided households and have beaten people to death on the streets or set them on fire (in my home town they killed a young boy and stuffed people in the synagogue and set the building on fire and watch them burn to death while the fire brigade only cared about that the houses of "Aryan" people dind´t ignite.
(...)
so, yeah, words can do harm because they can implant the thought of hate and of superiority and all this bs into peoples minds. it worked. every big outburst of violence had people which initialized hate with words and sentences. and i bet my ass that it works today too...

I understand what you're saying, and I agree about how cynical and jaded we've all become.

But I don't believe words, powerful though they may be, were the main driver in that particular situation. Poverty and hardship, imposed by the totally braindead conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, were the main cause, as it made people much more open to the ideas of whatever opportunistic "Messiah" came along.

Actually, we (Europe) are well on our way of seeing this for ourselves.

 

[Lady Larunai]

From what ive seen in australia it is a pretty common word here, its still classed as the worst swear word but its never really gendered apart from its definition.. Go to the country or arroundthe city in canberra your bound to hear it once a day, i have friends that spout it like water from a tap and on the chance that you see a couples argument from a pair of bogans the word flies around like its a vowel.. And you get the occasional 9 year olds yelling it too over here

 

[CaptainKarma]

Well to sound off for myself, I have lost respect for "The Onion" for backing down and issueing an apology. I'm firmly in the court of those who have been complaining about out of control political correctness here, and feel that anything PC needs to be abolished as it's an affront to free speech as a matter of general principle, especially when it comes to humor.

At the end of the day the point of "The Onion" and other sources like it is that nothing and noone is sacred, your supposed to talk at look at a lot of what they say/post and go "wow, I can't believe they said that" and chuckle because of how wrong it is

Whether or not this girl is 9 years old is irrelvent, she's a public person, and fair game for this kind of thing. What's more I think people complaining about this made it more of a big deal that it ever would have been if they decided to keep their mouthes shut and go after their 5 minutes of fame from liberal trolling. Sure, calling a 9 year old a **** to her face is wrong, but remember this is on a humor website/twitter feed which a 9 year old has no business accessing. Had nobody gone "wow, I can get five minutes of fame by complaining and donning a suit of liberal white knight armor" the odds of her ever even having expected this was said would be pretty much obselete. Anyone looking at "The Onion" enough to follow it's twitter also likewise understands the context.

So you prioritise free speech over not abusing 9 year-olds. Got it.

She's NINE. A damn CHILD. How is she "fair game"?

 

[Lilani]

Here's my question: Was she a ****?

I ask this because honestly, if she behaved in a way that would classify her as a ****, then in my opinion there is no problem saying it.

I think the fact that you have to ask that is only another sign that this was a terribly executed "joke" to begin with.

I don't know if you read the article, but the reason the Onion said it wasn't because they had witnessed her behavior and decided she was a ****. As Bob said, the Onion was making fun of how critical and negative celebrity media has become. But (as Bob also said) the joke failed in its execution by not separating itself from what it was trying to be a satire of, and by going someplace that dark (using a sexual insult intended to reduce someone to the quality of their genitals on a nine-year-old) without enough context to give it substance. Whether or not she was actually a **** never had anything to do with the Onion's reason for making the comment.

 

[Keith K]

I hadn't had a chance to actually find out what The Onion had said. In finally getting the details, I agree; Reasonable intention, terrible execution.

 

[DugMachine]

Oh goodness. Some people just need to learn to take a joke, no matter how bad it is. If I were The Onion, I'd keep it up there just to let people keep raging. Seriously, OH NO people on the internet are mad! Sky is blue and grass is green, etc.

 

[knight steel]

But don't we call young boys "dickheads" all the time yet **** is unacceptable?
Don't get me wrong I hate it when any person demeans someone else and think the twitter is in the wrong.
Also the fact of her age shouldn't factor into it,insulting anyone should be looked down upon.
However I do find the double standard between swears interesting.

The double standards of sexism have existed for as long as I can remember lol, I don't see things changing anytime soon.

*sigh* I know but a man can wish can't he