In 1971, in Cohen v. California, Mr. Paul Cohen entered a Los Angeles courthouse wearing a jacket emblazoned with the words "FUCK THE DRAFT." His subsequent arrest by offended police officers led to the determination that "FUCK THE DRAFT" was protected speech, and Mr. Cohen could not be prosecuted for it.
Although the rise of "fuck" from a word reserved for use in longshoremen’s taverns and houses of ill repute was already well under way in 1971, Mr. Cohen’s case demonstrates that even the highest court in the land, in a far more conservative age, did not consider it to be so scandalous or immoral that it deprived Mr. Cohen of his right to wear this word emblazoned on his jacket in a courthouse.
Since then, "fuck" has gotten closer and closer to the dinner table, and certainly should no longer be forced to sit outside in the rain, while we all say it, use it, laugh at it, whisper it, and embrace it.
- 1.American Popular Culture not Only Tolerates, but it Embraces "fuck"
In the year 2006 (in fact well before) the fact is, "fucking" can not be considered to be scandalous or shocking to very many people anymore. Our President, an avowed Born-Again Christian uses fuck liberally.[1] And the Vice President’s use of "fuck" is a common butt of late night comedy.[2] Senator John Kerry said, in an interview with Rolling Stone, "Did I expect George Bush to fuck [The Iraq War] up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did."[3]
Howard Stern, dogged for years by the FCC and its attempts to impose its unelected
- ↑ http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1101030331-435968,00.html; http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2835.htm (Stories detailing Bush saying "Fuck Sadaam, we’re taking him out).
- ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html ("go fuck yourself").
- ↑ First Stop, Iraq, TIME Magazine, http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1101030331435968,00.html; Bush Or Kerry? Look Closely And The Danger Is The Same, NEW STATESMAN, http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=5083.
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