Sexual words as slurs

[Paul DiFilippo]

Once in the now-vanished fanzine Apa Eros, there was an essay
speculating on what it would be like to live in a word where
all words for parts of the anatomy and sexual intercourse were
used as terms of approbation and commendation, instead of
derogatorily.  After doing a good job, for instance, your boss
would come up to you and say, "Harry, you're a helluva competent
prick!"  (Or "cunt" for Harietta.)  And so on and so on.  It's
a weird mental game to play, using these words in a pleasant,
benign manner, and goes to show how messed up our attitudes
toward sex are, that we can only use the terms oppressively.
[[[Whoops!  Typo alert:  second line should read "...live in a
_world_....]]]

--
Paul Di Filippo&Deborah Newton/2 Poplar/Providence, RI 02906
Dada Charity:  "Clothe the hungry and feed the naked."
Capitalist Charity:  "Give the hungry clothes, the naked food,
and let them create a market economy."