Re: [-empyre-] c*nt obsession

Damien Everett <damien.everett@rmit.edu.au> · Sat Dec 21 16:32:01 2002

erik:
>It strikes me as a
profoundly absurd practice for a woman to refer to herself as a "cunt"
as a source of pride.
Yes, because you think all women should subscribe to your definition 
of and belief structures surrounding what a "cunt" is?

I'm not speaking for myself. I'm speaking for a society raised with a 
culture of control by way of reduction of women exclusively to sexual 
beings and mothers; both of which center around the vagina.

What society is that? One without sisters, friends, grandmas, 
daughters, co-workers, teachers, healers... sounds terrible to me!
 The assertion by a woman that they are a "cunt" is not reclaiming 
anything, even if it is based on obscure and innacurate 
interpretations of early paganism. It's merely affirming what men are 
already raised to believe: That a woman is a sexual organ; and that 
the only means for that woman to obtain power is by way of that sexual 
organ; and that men must "respect" [or, "worship"] that sexual organ 
because it is the only route a woman can take to empowerment.

I think very few people are capable of considering the "symbolic" and 
"positive" aspects of a term that is a form of psychologically 
degrading violence against women. Again, I am simply pointing out why 
the word "cunt" is offensive to begin with.

"cunt" is not offensive to begin with:
>The word you find so offensive is derived from the name of the
>Great Goddess Cunti, or Kunda, in her persona as the yoni or
> womb of the universe.  According to researcher and linguist
>Barbara G. Walker, other cognates are "cunabula," a cradle or
>earliest abode; "Cunina," a Roman goddess who protected
>children in the cradle; "cunctipotent," all-powerful (i.e., having
>"cunt-magic"); as well as the words cunning and ken: knowledge,
>learning, insight, remembrance and wisdom. Cunt is "not slang,
> dialect or any marginal form, but a true language word, and of
>the oldest stock."
>
>"Kin" originally meant not only matrilineal blood relations, but
>also a cleft or crevice, the Goddess's genital opening.  A
>Saharan tribe called Kuntahs traced their descent from this holy
>place.  In ancient writings, the word for "cunt" was synonymous
>with "woman," though not in the insulting modern sense, the
>way one of the words for "man" in Hebrew derives from its
>word for "penis."  The vulgarity is purely a modern construction;
>it was merely descriptive to those in the
>ancient world.
>Latin Cunnus, Middle English Cunte, Old Norse Kunta, Old Frisian 
Kunte, Basque Kuna. That many words from cradle (cunabula) to 
cunctipotent (all powerful, omnipotent) to cunning (to know) derive 
from cunt? [Michael Dames, THE SILBURY TREASURE: THE GREAT GODDESS 
REDISCOVERED, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, 1976.]
This is all extremely useless. I don't see why "worship" of one type 
of sex organ over another is going to liberate anyone. Am I suddenly 
to feel inferior for not having a vagina?

The point I and others have repeatedly been making is that "cunt" is 
NOT just about the sex organ, its just that many are unable to 
appreciate this due to their cultural programming. You seem to believe 
cyberfeminists exclusively define themselves as c*nts as a sexual 
metaphor and that it is the only aspect of their self representation 
they intend...
Language is dynamic and adaptive, and art is often subversive in nature 
and seeks to shock and break down such incorrect preconceived ideas.
to reiterate the words of Julianne Pierce:
>One of the strategies to do this was to use language and to reclaim 
language which is negative or derogatory towards women. The word 'cunt' 
can be offensive...and has obviously been offensive to some on this 
list!! But for us it was about using this word in a positive way, to 
say that we are cunts and proud of it....in other versions of the 
manifesto we replace the word 'cunt' with 'kunst', we make art with our 
'kunst'. We were also interested in the relationship of the body to the 
computer...that the Matrix is another word for the womb and that the 
cunt or clitoris is a direct line to the Matrix.
now can we get past the cunt obsession thing yet?
d