Proliferating Profanities

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Sept 20, 1999 | by Paula Gray Hunker, | Laura R. Vanderkam

Four-letter words are a curse on the English language, and the curse has gotten worse.

On television and in the movies, from the boardwalk to the boardroom, Americans are cursing more -- and liking it less. "In the 40 years that I've been observing the use of profane speech, I've seen a growing tolerance for its use in public context, such as on television, on radio and in music and in films and theater," says Dennis Baron, head of the English department at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. "But I'm also seeing a backlash."

Each year, when Baron asks his students what they would change about the English language, most of them cite swearing. "These are college students, who are probably second only to sailors in their use of swearing," he says. "Yet even the students who use bad language wish that they didn't."

Linguists and scholars of popular culture agree that public profanity has increased precipitously in the past decades. "I'm not sure that we're swearing more frequently these days, but we're definitely using profanity in more and more public contexts," says Jim Gaudino, executive director of the National Communications Association, which monitors the use of language in American culture. "Curses serve a linguistic function to violate expectations and thereby get your attention. When you hear language that used to be found only on cable on prime time, cursing loses that effectiveness."

Indeed, the erosion of the lines that separate appropriate and inappropriate public speech is nowhere more obvious than on prime-time TV. "It almost seems quaint now, but just 15 years ago censors wouldn't allow the word butt on prime-time television," says Rochelle Gurstein, a history professor at the Bard Graduate School in New York City and a member of the National Commission on Society, Culture and Community, based at the University of Pennsylvania. "This fall, Fox is premiering a show about a Hollywood family where every other word out of the father's mouth is profanity."

Gurstein, whose book The Repeal of Reticence chronicles the coarsening of American society from the 1870s forward, hopes that a growing discomfort with public profanity can stem the tide. But if history is any indication, it will be a difficult battle. "I'm always amazed at how far the media pushes the limits," she says. "I remember during the Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas hearings thinking, `This is the end. It can never get worse than this.' Then we had Lewinsky. Now, I never say never."

Keeping profanity out of the home is increasingly difficult. agrees Sheri Parks, associate dean of undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland and an expert on popular culture. "It used to be that when a child used bad language, everyone assumed that their parents spoke that way at home," she says. "But today, even children whose parents don't swear have easy access to profanity -- on prime time or even at the ballpark."

Parks sees signs of a backlash -- people once again are studying etiquette and creating politeness or kindness movements. "Plus, the good news is that once you've been inundated in the South Park culture, after a while, it just stops being funny. I would like to see civility and politeness fill the space once South Park leaves."

The mother of a 4-year-old daughter, Parks says that young children and profanity unfortunately are a natural fit. "Here are young children who feel powerless and are struggling to express themselves," she says. "Then they stumble across a verbally violent word -- often innocently -- and suddenly they're verbally powerful." Parents should consider giving up television as a family activity, "which is hard for baby boomers who were raised around a family television set."

It's often at school -- and even preschool -- where children test daring speech. Patti Cancellier, a certified parent educator, has a good remedy for young children with potty mouth. She takes them into the bathroom until they are ready to speak politely. "Being separated from the group is a terrible punishment at this age," says Cancellier, who teaches Parent Encouragement Programs, a nationwide parenting course. "Usually one or two trips to the bathroom will solve this problem."

Parents need to be careful to strike a balance -- firmly but calmly correcting offensive speech, giving it neither too much nor too little notice. Too much attention only reinforces the power of inappropriate speech. Ignoring it tends to condone it. Youngsters usually outgrow their attraction to potty talk. The real problems start when older children use bad language as an assault weapon or to express their anger, says Cancellier, a mother of two teens. In that case, parents need to find a time when anger cools and then address the bigger issues -- such as not using language that is hurtful or disrespectful. Parks points out that people who use profanity do so because they can't find better words. "This just delights my daughter to think that grown-ups also don't have good control over their words," she says. "It makes her try even harder to have mastery over her good words."