Etymology Talk: Cunt

After all the brouhaha surrounding Jane Fonda’s utterance of the word cunt on the Today Show last week (see video below), I decided to do a little research. I was already astounded by the fact that people were making such a big deal over her using the word in the context she did. She was referring to the title of a piece from The Vagina Monologues, not using the term in a negative way. Ironically, the point of the monologue Fonda was referring to is to empower women to break down the stigma associated with the word.

The main definition of cunt is ‘the female external genital organs’ (OED). According to the OED online, the first known appearance of the word cunt was around 1230, in London. Gropecuntelane was a street name, and the street housed brothels. Ha ha, aren’t those Brits clever? These early usages derived from the Middle English ‘cunte,’ of the same meaning.

It was not until 1929 that the term was used in a vulgar manner, directed as an insult. The vulgarization of the term is a modern problem. Arguably, the modern vulgar usage is the equivalent of one person calling another a vagina as an insult. A bit misogynistic? I think so. Granted, male genital slang is also used in an insulting manner, but cunt seems to be far more reviled a word than prick & co.

Something that could grace a street sign in London (even in the red-light district) more than 800 years ago now elicits a look of horrified embarrassment from Meridith Viera. Have we regressed? As you ponder, remember that words aren’t inherently vulgar, they are given power by our response to them.