jeudi, juin 01, 2006

"really fucking brilliant"

It's every high school student's dream: Writing a research paper about an obscenity.

But in this case, it's professor Christopher Fairman at Ohio State University's Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies doing the writing.

I'll admit that the title caught my eye. That it referenced the FCC's handling of a choice phrase by Bono on U.S. television made it that much more fun to read.

The legal implications of fuck
This Article is as simple and provocative as its title suggests: it explores the legal implications of the word fuck. The intersection of the word fuck and the law is examined in four major areas: First Amendment, broadcast regulation, sexual harassment, and education. The legal implications from the use of fuck vary greatly with the context. To fully understand the legal power of fuck, the nonlegal sources of its power are tapped. Drawing upon the research of etymologists, linguists, lexicographers, psychoanalysts, and other social scientists, the visceral reaction to fuck can be explained by cultural taboo. Fuck is a taboo word. The taboo is so strong that it compels many to engage in self-censorship. This process of silence then enables small segments of the population to manipulate our rights under the guise of reflecting a greater community. Taboo is then institutionalized through law, yet at the same time is in tension with other identifiable legal rights. Understanding this relationship between law and taboo ultimately yields fuck jurisprudence.
Via Matt

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